The Darkest Realm
by ShadowBlaze
Summary: CHAPPIE 20is up!Kala is taken hostage by a vampire bc of the vampire's blood claim on her kin. While hostage, it is realized that Kala, with her strange visions, is the key to the translation of the Book of Silverlight.
1. Default Chapter

Ok first off...contrary to what u might think, this is NOT the Kala in Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' books. This is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT Kala, ok? I didn't know that there was a Kala in In the Forest of the Night or Demon in my View when I started this story, and I'm not about to change the name now, so I decided to give u fair warning. (Thank you Neveada, who brought this to my attention) This is my Kala, who has no relations to AAR's Kala...now that that's cleared up...  
  
Chapter 1  
  
For how long they had me before Kieran came, I do not know. Hours slipped into days, which in turn slowly melted into weeks. I drove myself near insane, trying to keep track of time, and all for nothing. Whether it had been from pain or from loss of blood, or perhaps a little of both, I would black out for what seemed like days at a time.  
  
In the beginning, I was kept in a windowless chamber so small that I when I stood, my head brushed the ceiling, and the perimeter was only a few paces on every side. The only light came from the crack beneath the heavy wooden door. Sometimes, they would come often, slashing my skin open with their knives, throwing me into the stone walls as if I was merely a rag doll. Normally, it was a different one that would come every time, but there was one who paid me malicious visits as often as he could. He sometimes came bearing a knife, which he would slowly rake across my skin and lick away the line of blood that blossomed from the broken skin. Other times, he would merely grab me forcefully, pulling me against him and holding me immobilized with one arm as he raked his other hand through my hair and painfully yanked my head to one side, exposing my neck. His teeth would lengthen, sharpen and pierce my neck, the skin only resisting for a mere second, and then my blood would be rushing out of my open veins and into his vampiric system, quenching his bloodlust. If he was in a good mood, the anesthetic qualities of vampire saliva and a controlling mind dulled the pain for a few moments, and sent my mind wandering higher and farther away than ever before; but if he was in a bad mood, he wouldn't employ the soothing capabilities of his mind, and the pain of the bloodletting would cloud my vision with black spots as I tried not to scream. I tried to fight, to resist him, but it was no use. Fighting wasn't in my nature; I wasn't brought up a battle-ready creature, like so many of my distant kin. My family's strength lay in healing and herb-lore, not killing. I would always end up being the source of his nourishment. My witch's blood was sweeter and more luxurious than any human's, and it was hard for him to stop; he would always take a little more than I could afford to lose. I would be left crumpled on the ground, unmoving, drifting in and out of consciousness.  
  
I lost count of how many times he came. He was dragged off of me one day when a guard walked in and saw him taking my blood. He fought viciously, but the guard mercilessly slammed him into a wall and crushed his windpipe. It was a painful blow, but I knew it would heal quickly. When he again tried to attack the guard, the hulking man drew his sword and sliced at my predator. He hissed in pained, baring his bloodstained teeth.  
  
The guard ran him through with the sword. He let loose with a bloodcurdling scream that raised the hairs on the back of my neck and made my weak body tense up rigidly. He bared his teeth at me one last time as he dropped to his knees. One of the guard's legs shot out lightning- fast to catch him square in the throat. His head snapped back with a sickening crack as his neck was snapped like a twig. He dropped backward as the guard yanked his sword out, wiped it on the fallen vampire's silky shirt then resheathed it. He grabbed one of the fallen vampire's arms and towed him jerkily out of the room.  
  
A single line of blood trickled out of the corner of the vampire's mouth, and his haunting black eyes had taken on an eternally vacant expression, the lids half- closed.  
  
Although I should have been glad that my predator would no longer be able to hurt me anymore, the sight of him being dragged out of the room haunted me in my deepest nightmares for years to come, his eyes devoid of all that resembled life, staring at me forevermore.  
  
hehehe...not bad huh? My e-mail is MidnightsFlame@hotmail.com so e-mail me with any questions or comments... 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
I bolted upright, my mouth open in a silent yell that wouldn't exit my throat that was raw from screaming. Tears coursed down my cheeks as I sobbed uncontrollably, my shoulders heaving as my lungs tried to draw in air. Next thing I knew, Kieran had materialized beside my bed in the pitch darkness, and wrapped his arms around me, his mind easily slipping into mine and easing the pain of my nightmares. He murmured comforting thoughts into my hair, and pressed them into my mind. When I had relatively regained my composure, he sat back enough to see my face, flicking on the light behind him. I was momentarily blinded and shielded my eyes. He pulled my hands gently from my eyes and stared into my tear- streaked face.  
  
"Same nightmare again?" He asked, his voice lightly tinted with an English accent. The dim light outlined his form, setting an unearthly glow about him. Light reflected in his emerald eyes, making them seem illuminated as those of a cat. Shadows seemed to swirl around him, catching his face and throwing it into darkness when he turned a certain way. For now, the shadows rimmed his high cheekbones, making his slim-featured face look like a hollow skull. I was terrified; never had he looked more like the creature he was, a vampire. He frowned when I didn't answer, cupping my face gently in his delicate hand and lifting my chin to expose the side of my throat.  
  
He leaned forward, his eyes intent on the rapid pulse in my neck. I froze, a look of horror planted firmly on my features.  
  
He broke his gaze to quickly glance at my face.  
  
"Kala, I gave you my word that I would never feed upon you and to that I hold. You have been with me for nearly 2 months; you should know that." Without waiting for my answer, he tenderly stroked the side of my neck that ached. "Your.wound is becoming irritated again."  
  
My hand went to the side of my neck where the fallen vampire, whose name I had learned was Corbett, had once fed upon me regularly. The spot throbbed and turned an aggravated shade of red when I dreamt of my life in the small cell of the dungeon.  
  
"Shall I sit with you until you fall asleep?" Kieran's silky voice rumbled from deep in his chest.  
  
I shook my head as I slid back underneath the navy blue silk sheets. Although my heart was still beating more rapidly than normal, I wasn't about to have him sit with me as if I was a child.  
  
His hand passed through my tangled black curls as he leaned over me to kiss my forehead lightly.  
  
"Sweet dreams, my lovely flower," He said softly, and then smiled wryly. Sweet dreams were about the last thing I was expecting.  
I ignored his use of the nickname he had given me. My nickname was derived from the actual meaning of my name, Kalantha.  
  
He left the room, pausing at the door as if unsure if he should leave. After a moment, he shut the door, the inky blackness surrounding me and pulsing through my lungs painfully. I shut my eyes tight, called on a thread of my magic that was deep in my heart and then opened my eyes. The leaves of the small plant in the corner of my room were laced with a vibrant green, the life of the plant. Pale red and green shone lightly from the dozens of blood red roses Kieran had placed in vases all around my room. Looking down, I saw a pale, pulsating blue radiating from my own skin; it was my magic.  
  
Instant nightlight, I thought with a tired smile as I snuggled deeper into my blankets with a comforted sigh. None but I could see this fire from within all living creatures, as it was created with my magic, by my hands. Perhaps I won't dream anymore.The thought drifted lazily across my head as my eyelids drooped and sleep enveloped me like a warm, comforting blanket.  
  
This time I was in what appeared to be the ruins of an ancient temple. Vines snaked through cracks in the masonry, across the floor, and twined around half broken columns. Inscriptions in an ancient tongue were carved into the walls and columns.  
  
I walked down the main path, intent on going wherever it was that I was going. Ancient magic was light on the breeze within this temple, but the my lungs labored to breathe air that got heavier as I neared the stone door at the end of my path. Unfamiliar, thick magic crackled through the air, making my nerves jangle with a warning. At last I was at the stone door, the hairs on the back of my neck raised.  
  
There was a knob, which appeared to be in the shaped of a sun, at about chest level. I noticed with dismay that my hand was unaccountably reaching for the knob. With a yank, the sun shaped knob slid about an inch away from the door and I started twisting the knob to the right, and then to the left, and to the right again.  
  
With a jerk and a loud creak, the door started opening; the knob had been an ancient combination lock. I stepped through the door, instantly throwing my hands up to shield my eyes from the dazzling silver light at the end of the chamber. My feet seemed to go numb, and yet I floated steadily toward the light, apprehension hanging around my neck like a bag of rocks, and yet a small prick of desire started to blossom in my chest.  
  
A quiet, slow chanting started in the back of my head as I neared the light, which seemed to be coming from a small ornately carved chest on an intricately designed wooden table. The desire of curiosity started to overwhelm me. The chanting consistently grew louder until it seemed like the voices were screeching in my head. I was standing right in front of the chest. Desire swamped my body, but somewhere in the back of the screeching that was in my head I heard a small voice cautioning me not to do whatever it was I was about to do. My hand reached toward the chest, hovering above it.  
  
now is the time to press that lil grayish-blue button right next to "submit review" okay? The one to the bottom left hand side...yup, that's the one... 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
I was jarred back to reality by someone violently shaking me back and forth. I blinked my blurry eyes back into focus and realized the person standing before me was Kieran.  
  
"What? What are you doing here?" I asked stupidly, still half asleep. I was never known for the ability to function properly in the morning.  
  
Kieran took my arm in a harsh grip and started to propel me quickly away from where we had been. I looked around questioningly; how had I gotten here? We were in the 3rd corridor on the 3rd floor- a row of rooms specifically meant for the guests that Kieran and Adham were currently entertaining. Right now there weren't too many vampires staying there, and it was likely that they were just getting to sleep after their previous night's hunt. But nevertheless, none would have turned down the chance for witch's blood, especially if it had just walked so willingly into their living space.  
  
"Sleepwalking again, Kalantha," Kieran murmured, his grip loosening on my arm just a little bit as we got further away from the sleeping vampires. "That's the 3rd time this week that I've found you in the 3rd floor corridor. Don't you realize how dangerous that is?" By now we had reached his room, which he unlocked to let both of us in. Unlike many vampires, Kieran's room wasn't like entering a deep abyss of empty darkness. Although the walls were painted a navy blue, the shade of water just before a storm, the black silk curtains were pulled back to allow the early morning sunlight to spill across the floor. Kieran went and stood by the open window, running his hand through his thick mop of dirty blonde hair, sighing exasperatedly. He turned to face me, his green eyes, so dark that they looked black, were unreadable at the moment.  
  
"Have you thought about my offer?" He asked in a husky voice. He was referring to his offer of branding me, to protect me from the other vampires. The brand of Kieran, a single teardrop tattooed underneath the outer corner of the right eye, would mark me as his. No other vampire would dare touch a creature with Kieran's mark. Although he had recently earned a reputation of being a human lover, he was still one of the most well known and feared vampires in the area.  
  
I met his eyes. "I have thought, and my answer remains." Before I could contain it, a thought slipped forward. Never would I willingly submit to being branded by a vampire. My family would never accept me back home if I did.  
  
A sardonic smile slid onto Kieran's face. He had obviously caught that thought. "How do you know you will ever return?" He materialized near me and had me bent back into his arms in a feeding position before I had a chance to react. His face hovered inches over my neck as he entangled one hand in my hair, supporting my body in this awkward position with his other hand around my waist.  
  
"You go only if I allow it," he whispered and lowered his mouth to my neck. He merely kissed the skin where my vein was visibly pulsing blood throughout my body and straightened, releasing me.  
  
"I hate it when you do that," I said bitterly, dusting off an invisible speck of dirt and straightening my clothes.  
  
His laugh echoed throughout the air as he disappeared. Kieran would also occasionally remind me that I was his to command, that he could do anything he pleased with me.  
  
In the beginning, his disappearing into thin air had unnerved me very much, but I was accustomed to it by now. Knowing that certain vampires could materialize and disappear whenever they wanted to was different than actually seeing one do it.  
  
I stood where I was for a moment more and then opened the door adjoining our rooms and entered my room to get dressed for the day. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
After donning a loose t-shirt and jeans, I wandered outside. Behind the Blood Red Fire, a small restaurant/bar that was owned by Adham and Kieran, dense forest stretched as far as the eye could see. Off to the right of the forest was a dirt path leading to a large vegetable and flower garden. Part of the garden was filled with rows of various vegetables, a food source to the humans that lived in the house, but the rest of the garden was filled with various flowers. Although I wasn't sure what the purpose of the flower garden was, I was certain that it wasn't for the use of Adham. I had seen Kieran wandering idly through the paths more than once, a tense look on his face that was slowly replaced by a look of serene happiness. Occasionally he would sit on the wooden swing that often blew emptily in the breeze.  
  
I followed the path to the vegetable garden in hopes of finding Maia. Maia was the only self-respecting human around this place that I had met so far, even though she was blood bonded to Adham. Adham marked humans he particularly liked with a wreath of fire tattooed around their neck and those he blood-bonded to himself were acknowledged with a black rose tattooed on the upper arm.  
  
Like a collar, I thought disgustedly about the line of flame twirling around the necks of a number of humans that inhabited the house.  
  
Maia waved and called my name when she saw me approaching.  
  
"What are you doing here?" She asked quizzically. "You aren't normally awake by this time."  
  
"Bad dreams," I answered vaguely, kneeling beside her in a row of carrots and beginning to yank out the weeds that threatened to choke the vegetables. "And what about you? You look tired." I said as I noticed the dark circles that stood out like bruises on her fair skin under her bright blue eyes.  
  
"Adham visited me last night," She said calmly, controlling her voice, although I noticed that she gave a vicious tug on the small plants that surrounded the carrots.  
  
"Oh." I replied, leaving a moment open for awkward silence. I knew that Maia wasn't particularly fond of Adham but she had never explained why, and I didn't think it had anything to do with the fact that Maia was one of the few humans who didn't enjoy being vampire prey.  
  
Letting my mind wander, my thoughts were instantly drawn to on of the paths in the woods. It was barely visible from the yard, so small was the opening in the thick forest. Kieran's steely voice filled my head. "Never go in there, Kalantha. Never follow that path, no matter what would seem to compel you to. Never. You will risk dying an excruciatingly painful death." My arms ached at the remembrance; I had been left with bruises from Kieran's intense grip. Kieran's warning had done what was intended; it had frightened me, but after the initial feeling of fear wore off, a burning curiosity flowed through my veins, growing stronger each time I thought about it. It was as if something was forcefully drawing my mind back to the caliginous snarls of underbrush that barred the path off from the world.  
  
"Kala." Maia's acidic voice brought me back to the present. "You're getting that look on your face again."  
  
"What look?" I eyed her with puzzlement.  
  
"You're daydreaming." Maia stated bluntly, not taking her eyes off of her work.  
  
I said nothing. Maia was normally an incredibly happy individual, sometimes to the point where you'd be within an inch of strangling her. She didn't panic under any amount of stress, and wasn't driven to insanity as many humans were with the capacity of knowledge that vampires did, and are in existence. But Maia also didn't believe in daydreaming, not when there were definite predators around.  
  
"You take but one eye off your path, and you will be led, or taken, astray," was what she had once told me.  
  
"Maia?" I asked.  
  
She leaned back on her heels, wiping the sweat off her brow. Tendrils of pale blond hair had shaken themselves loose of the loose ponytail at the base of her neck, and been glued to her forehead with perspiration. She was tiring quicker than normal, most likely from the loss of blood from the previous night. Kieran didn't talk of Adham much, but from what I could gather, they used to be great friends. Why it fell apart, I don't know, but Kieran seemed to try to avoid Adham whenever possible.  
  
"Yes?" Maia prompted, after having sat silent for a moment without my response. She frowned suspiciously at me. My questions weren't always well received; she said I asked for too much information, which would one day turn and stab me in the back. She said that the less I knew the better. "When were you.taken by vampires?  
  
Maia's frown deepened. "I knew you were going to ask about that eventually." She paused, as if deciding whether or not to tell me. For a moment I thought she would refuse. "Another time." She said as if in promise, glancing around herself. "We're too out in the open. Anyone could be listening in."  
  
I nodded silently. I knew Maia; she would keep her word.  
  
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	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
"I was among the few that were controlled births, in Midnight." Maia said, staring at a spot somewhere above my head instead of meeting my eyes.  
  
"Controlled births?" This concept wasn't new to me, I had heard of it before, but never had anyone explained to me in length as to what it was.  
  
"Two slaves, chosen for their beauty and their down-trodden manner, taken and bred like animals, like dogs. Surely, easily broken slaves would produce easily broken children." Maia said with sarcastic innocence. "But they were wrong. I was a defect. The other controlled births worked, but it backfired with me." She smirked triumphantly, but there was a bitter trace to her words. "My mother tried to shield me as long as she could, but it wasn't in her nature. She was easily broken, and easily yielded to what the leeches said, even without their mind control. She saw what happened to those around her, to those who disobeyed, to those who were difficult. She knew that it would one day happen to me, and she tried, she tried so hard, to break me gently of my habit of wanting to be an individual. I was exactly what vampires around Midnight loved, even more than those who were meek, and did what they were told. I had spirit, and it was to be broken along with many bones in my body. And so I was taken from my mother, when I was around 7 years old. From that time until I turned 13, I was passed from trainer to trainer. Each tried, and failed miserably, to break, and train me to be the perfect servant, or anything resembling a down-trodden mouse at all. They could only try to beat the life out of me; mind control had no effect on me whatsoever. I was finally given up on, sent to an auction, to see if they could get anything for me, any reimbursement for all the years they had spent, wasted, on me." Maia paused, deep in memory.  
  
I was one of the last to be auctioned off; the adults went first, sad looking bunch that they had been, their brains and eyes empty of life. I stood silently in line while the auction continued, waiting for my turn.  
  
We were all in a dark, cramped cellar under the platform that was used to show the humans, arranged by size and approximate age. I knew that more than half the children here didn't know their age; such things weren't important in the vampire world. All that mattered was if you had blood running in your veins.  
  
Although the cellar smelled like mildew and wet earth, none but I seemed to notice this unpleasant odor. The children around me, ranging from what looked like 3 or 4 to 15 or so, were a tattered looking group. Clothes with faded colors and patches hung off the gaunt limbs of nearly everyone. Watery eyes were widened with fear of what was to come. Skin was already grubby.  
  
They went through all the trouble of having us washed up, and clothed in new garments, and then they shoved us in a root cellar, expecting us to stay clean, when some of us may be down here for hours? I thought, amazed. My skin was raw from the hasty scrubbing that had been administered to the younger kids, whether they were dirty or not. I shuddered with disgust; only the older kids were allowed to wash themselves, and no amount of my protesting would persuade the women who cleansed us that I was 13, and not 9. I was small for my age, scrawny by nature, but like a skeleton once a few weeks of near starvation had settled around me. I don't know when the last time I had a full meal was. No meal was a punishment dealt often to me at my former master's manor.  
  
Some of the teens were attempting to comfort the young kids, trying unsuccessfully to take on the appearance of a maternal unit to those who were wailing for their real mothers. A bunch of ragged looking 7 and 8 year olds were huddled together in the corner, trying to act brave, but at the same time hiding their shameful tears. We were a sad bunch, myself included. I stood staring blankly at the wall, somewhere in between reality and a dream-like state. Not because I was nervous though. I knew that so-called "mind control" had no effect on me. I had nothing to worry about. Whatever awaited me couldn't be much different from what I had already experienced, already gone through. Not like the others, the children who were too young to understand what was happening. They would be bought, and grow up, becoming one of 2 things: either a slave, or a snack for their master. They would never escape the life of a slave, of vampires and mind-control. I only knew what mind control was because a few people tried to explain it to me, and still I couldn't quite grasp the concept of someone being in someone else's mind, forcing them to do something.  
  
I was bored, waiting for what was to come. It's not like I could miss my mother or anything; I hadn't had a maternal unit in my life for 6 years and I wasn't about to become attached to one now. People had tried to take me under their wing, probably because they felt sorry for me, but I rejected them. Scorning was the only way to deal with loneliness. Pretend that you don't like others around you and you look better than if you were trying to get friends and they reject you.  
  
It's either reject or get rejected. Play or get played. Kill or get killed. I thought with a hostile sneer. No one was about to own me, mentally that is. Physically, I had been owned as long as I could remember, but no one could own me mentally. And they never would, if I had anything to do about it.  
  
The vampire came down the stairs, opened the door, and started ushering the next group up the stairs and into a separate room right off the stage. My heart flipped involuntarily, and started to pound in my throat. I forced my breathing to stay normal, controlled, as I was hustled along, being shoved into other people as we were herded up the stairs. Panic and pure hopelessness were interlaced in the air, thick in and about our heads.  
  
We were brought into another room, to wait to be called on. One by one the girls and boys were led onto the stage, to their doom. The rest of us could hear what was happening, could hear the prices that were being shouted out for the human flesh that occupied the stage in a meek bundle of terror. It was like they were selling animals, they way the vampire at the podium forced our mouths open to show our teeth, had us walk, then run around the platform a couple times, to show how our posture was, and to make sure that we didn't limp.  
  
At last it was my turn. A vampire grabbed my arm in an iron grip and hauled me out onto the stage, and over to the middle, where a vampire in a gray business suit with shiny, slicked-back brown hair and a cold sneer was waiting. I glared at him. He arched an eyebrow and a cruel smile curled at his lips. His arm clamped down on my shoulder, squeezing painfully as he pulled me into place beside him, facing the crowd of his kind. I tried to wrench my arm out of the greasy vampire's hand, but I couldn't succeed in getting loose. Laughter rippled through the crowd as I struggled. The slimeball pried my mouth open with his hands to show my teeth, then dragged me around the stage, forcing me to walk, then run. I didn't give up the opportunity to kick him as hard as I could while he was towing me around. He merely smiled at me as if I'd only given him a little love tap, and continued to haul on my arm. Finally he pulled me to a stop in front of the podium again. Deciding to stand still and regaining my dignity, I planted my feet apart and crossed my arms over my chest, staring defiantly out into the crowd.  
  
"Alright then, let's start the bidding at $50. Do I hear 50? Yes, you there, in the red shirt..."  
  
The bidding went on and on until most dropped out when the price got too high. I was actually surprised when the betting passed $1000. I was clearly no perfect catch, and I didn't intend to be so ever. I had been regarded as angelic more than once, with my pale blonde hair, fair skin and clear, bright blue eyes  
  
How ironic, I thought sarcastically, an angel among demons.  
  
At last the bidding was down to two opponents. With spiked, dark brown hair, and eyes as deep and dark as the empty night, the vampire with the dark red shirt didn't look like he was about to give in. As the price for my flesh climbed higher and higher, the vampire with short red hair in tight spirals flying out in all directions faltered and finally fell silent, no longer in the running for me. "$2000! Do I hear $2100?.No? Going once.twice.sold to the charming gentleman in the maroon shirt!" Greasy called out. I was led over to the side of the stage as another teen was led onto the stage.  
  
Charming Gentleman would be the last thing that I would've called my new owner, I thought as I was tugged over to meet my fate. Although I was a human, I was fairly perceptive when it came to being a judge of character, and bad was written all over this vampire's slyly smiling face.  
  
I sat silently as Maia finished her story. She yawned widely, and I looked at my watch; it was well past midnight.  
  
"So now you know." Maia stated. "That was the day that Adham bought me. That was 25 years ago." Seeing my confused look, she elaborated. "I'd lived here for about 4 years when I was blood-bonded. Said I was already part vampire, and that he might as well make it official. I never figured out what he meant." She paused, the continued in a hushed voice. "Listen, Kala, and listen well-"  
  
I looked around, then leaned toward her, "What are you whispering for?"  
  
She hushed me with a finger to her lips, then leaned further toward me until we were merely inches away from each other. She met my eyes with an intense gaze. "Listen, Kala. They are everywhere. He is everywhere. He may be listening in at this moment. It's dangerous here, Kala. Get away, as fast as you can. Danger is brewing; I can feel it in the air. Do not trust anyone. First chance you get, run, and run hard. Return to your family, they can protect you."  
  
Maia stood up, stretching. She headed for the door.  
  
"Wait," I called, "I'm confused."  
  
Maia paused at the door, her hand on the doorknob. "Remember how I said that mind control had no effect on me?"  
  
I nodded slowly, still not understanding.  
  
"That wasn't how it was with Adham. He.has a power that I can't quite discern. We're connected in some way, but I don't know how. He did what no other trainer could do. He broke me, and turned me into the submissive creature I swore I'd never be."  
  
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	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
  
Maia's warning had unsettled me; it made me skittish, and Kieran noticed. Not for the first time he regarded me strangely when he materialized beside me and I jumped what seemed like a few feet in the air, unintentionally starting to scream and then stopping myself, the result being a muffled squeak. I was now careful to guard my thoughts from him. If he knew about what Maia had told me, and he surely would, as it plagued my thoughts often, he might have Maia disposed of.  
  
I constantly felt Kieran's eyes on me, trying to bore into my skull; he knew something was off, but he respected me privacy enough as to not force his way into my mind. If I wanted to talk to him about something, I would.  
  
Maia was ill for the next few days, so I spent my time idly in the garden. The early summer air was thick with the scent of rich flowers that was carried through the air. More than once my gaze wandered to the narrow opening in the dense wall of forest, but I forced my mind away from it to no avail. The path, surround by thick, menacing brambles, tantalizingly clouded my mind nearly as much as the warning of danger. What lay at the end of that trail? What was so horrible that Kieran would warn me against ever entering it?  
  
"What are you doing?" Kieran's voice held a note of amusement.  
  
I lurched to my feet, whipping around at the same time. He was leaning comfortably against a tree about ten feet away from me. "How long have you been here?" I asked tensely. Had he picked up any of my thoughts?  
  
Kieran shrugged nonchalantly. "Not too long. I figured you would be thirsty. You've been out here for a while now." He held out a glass of what appeared to be lemonade. I took it and sipped cautiously. Sugary tartness burst in my mouth, and I quickly drank most of the contents of the glass.  
  
"You never answered my question," Kieran reminded me, crouching down to sit with his long legs unfolded before him. He looked up at me, then patted the ground beside him. "What were you doing?"  
  
I sat down, pressing the cool glass against my burning forehead. I shook my head, squinting out into the sharp sunlight. I squinted out into the brightness of the azure sky before leaning back against the rough tree bark, my eyes closed. "Nothing much. Just thinking."  
  
He waited for me to go on, but I didn't. He shrugged again and we sat in silence. The sun's rays soaked soothingly into my skin and the wind whispered lightly through the trees, rustling leaves and telling a story of ancient fairy tales. Breaths of wind caressed my face as I thought, Perhaps I'll just rest for a little while.  
  
When I awoke, I was cradled in Kieran's arms, my head against his chest. Silken sheets slid over my skin as I sat up. He had transported us to his room, or his bed more specifically. First I noticed that Kieran was still lying in peaceful sleep, and that he had taken off his shirt, for what reason, I don't know; then I realized that I wasn't wearing what I had been earlier. I passed my hand through my tangled hair, and realized that it was damp. I blushed furiously. How had I gone to sleep in my junky outdoors clothes, and woken up in a skin-tight, rather revealing, bright red tank top and very short cut-off jean shorts, neither of which were mine? Had someone bathed and changed my clothes for me, and I didn't even wake up? I frowned, deciding to try to ignore the fact that someone very well may have done that.  
  
I looked around, then down at Kieran. My eyes traveled up the length of his lean body, and stopped at his defined, muscular stomach. I gently ran my hand over the smooth skin, then traced each line individually with my finger. His broad shoulders and his arms were hard with muscles. At last my eyes reached his peacefully sleeping face.  
  
I treasured the feel of his thick silken hair as it slid through my fingers, lighter than air as I pushed it out of his serene face. I traced his features, large, almost almond-shaped eyes that turned up slightly at the outside corner, giving him an air of constant mirth, a strong, straight nose, high, delicate cheekbones that gave him an almost childish look, and that mouth. Full, sensual lips that parted slightly, letting the air escape from his lungs.  
  
Old habits die hard, I thought with a smile; he didn't have to breathe since he was already dead, and his body required no air.  
  
My body ached with longing. How could a creature like himself look so wonderful and so alluring? I knew that vampirism smoothed the skin, hardened and defined the muscles, but nevertheless, Kieran must have been drop-dead gorgeous as a human, if he was literally god-like in his death.  
  
I giggled unintentionally as I realized what I had just said.  
  
Without realizing it, I had been leaning closer and closer to him, until my breath mingled with his. One of my hands lay over one of one of his own, and the other caressed his velvety cheek. My breath and heart quickened as I leaned over him.  
  
My body seemed to be leaning downward of its own account. My lips barely brushed his, but still a jolt of electricity seemed to pass through me. Too my great surprise, Kieran responded by pulling me down and kissing me with fiery passion. This time it was not just a single jolt, but thousands of them assailing my body at once. I was aware of everywhere we touched, from my lips to his hands in my hair and on my back. Heat raced through me like lightning. Why did he have this effect on me? Vampires weren't supposed to seduce witches like myself.  
  
Kieran rolled over and pulled back so that he was leaning over me. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, and he didn't bother to hide it. His eyes actually seemed to convey a trace of light, of amusement.  
  
For the second time that day, he asked me what I was doing.  
  
"I was, um- that is, I, uh-" I stuttered for a moment before being silenced with another more tender kiss.  
  
"Kieran?" I said, pushing him away for a moment. "Where did- I mean, How did-?"  
  
I felt him reach into my mind and read the question as it trailed across my thoughts.  
  
"You want to know how you got in here." He gestured vaguely around with a flick of his hand. I nodded, and he continued. "You came inside, and bathed, then I tucked you in to the bed."  
  
"Why don't I remember doing that?" I asked suspiciously.  
  
He smiled innocently, and confirmed my thoughts. He had put me into a vampiric-like state of sleep. "You haven't been sleeping well lately, so I helped you. and as for the clothes, I bought them for you. I was right; red goes with your black hair well."  
  
"But-.how did I.I mean, I was asleep." Now I was pretty thoroughly confused.  
  
Kieran shrugged, an aloof smirk on his lips. He lightly tapped his temple, and then mine. "Mind control."  
  
Oh, how stupid of me, I thought sarcastically. Mind control.why ever didn't I think of that?  
  
"You didn't-"  
  
He snorted with laughter. "No, I didn't watch you bathe, Kala. Honestly, you should know by now that I respect your privacy more than that." But I wasn't so sure I trusted him. His tone was off somehow, but I'm not sure why. Unconsciously, I attempted to cross my arms over my chest.  
  
Kieran laughed lightly, making my cheeks flush a brilliant red. I refused to meet his eyes. "Now is not the time to go and get all self-conscious." He paused, scrutinizing my face with a frown. "Are you okay? You just went from bright pink to white in a record time."  
  
"Fine," I said distractedly. "Must've been spending too much time outside; it wore me out." I could tell he didn't believe me, and he had good reason.  
It had just occurred to me that he was actually in my mind, controlling my movements. Could he have read what was so close to the surface? Maia's warning wouldn't have alarmed him much, but my deep yearning to travel the footpath would've made him furious. I was contemplating to do something he told me not to, and although I had known him for such a short time, I knew that he didn't like being disobeyed; no vampire did.  
  
His frown slowly changed to a smile as he studied me, one finger absentmindedly twirling a single spiral of my hair around and around.  
  
"You're-" He started to say something, but was interrupted by the opening of the door; we both turned to see who it was.  
  
"I'm sorry," Maia said sarcastically, looking rather pale as she hung onto the doorknob for support. "Did I interrupt something?" Her eyes trailed over us, over Kieran, who was lying half over me, at my arms that were loosely entwined around his neck. Kieran climbed off the bed and pulled me off with him, his arm snaking around me waist to hold me by his side.  
  
"What did you want, Maia? We were busy," Kieran stated.  
  
Maia's stony gaze locked on me. "I wanted to talk to Kala."  
  
Kieran took a step away from me, and shrugged. Maia took this as permission and grabbed my arm and towed me out of the room. One last look back showed that Kieran was standing there, smiling after us, his arms folded over his muscular chest.  
  
Questions? Comments? E-mail me! MidnightsFlame@hotmail.com And also...REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!!! or I'll go on a strike and not write again...ok, maybe I wouldn't do anything that drastic, but hey...just review it please...*puppy dog eyes* 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
"What do you think you were doing?" Maia hissed in my ear. "Do you even remember what I told you? In case you don't, here's a little reminder: I told you to get away from here; not to go and cozy up to a vampire, and climb willingly into his bed!"  
  
When we were in the privacy of her room, she turned to face me. "Kala, I want to know the truth. Are you.have you two had, uh, intimate relations?"  
  
"What? No, of course not," I said, and then explained the situation.  
  
"That's still not an excuse. Listen to me. There's something about Kieran that you don't know. About his past; about his and Adham's, and how they were, and still are connected." Her intensely bright eyes stood out against her milky white skin.  
  
I cut her off, worried for her. "Maia, you have to stop this. You're sick. You can tell me later."  
  
"Don't you want to know?" Her voice had gone high and shrilly. "You must listen to those who can help you, Kala. Or is the all-knowing Kala too high and mighty to accept the knowledge of those of us who choose to face reality head-on and not hide with shame and fear? Is this true?"  
  
The comment struck me like a barb under my skin, but I tried to pay no attention to it. Maia was obviously delirious from fever, and I told her so.  
  
Before she could respond, however, I reached into her mind and pulled sleep forward. Maia's eyelids drooped as she swooned, fast asleep. I caught her and carried her light frame over to the bed without difficulty. I lay her down gently on the bed and pulled up a chair beside her. Nervously wiping my shaking, sweating hands on my shorts, I thought of how I hadn't done any healing in nearly two and a half months. The logical side of my mind scoffed. This was simply a fever. I had done this a million times; I could probably do it in my sleep. After wiping my hands once more, I placed my fingertips on Maia's temple.  
  
Instantly I was inside her head, floundering through feverish snatches of thoughts.  
  
Adham has/ almost all/ caused pain/ Kieran/ Book of Silverlight/ three brothers/ vampire/ path/ one killed by hunter/Kala/ maybe broken/ in danger/ must save/ don't/ Kala will die  
  
Emotions washed over me in waves with each thought, there one second, gone the next. Pain, disgust, apprehension, fear, and a deep, penetrating enmity. Maia was one intense human. I pulled myself above the mainstream of her thoughts and grimaced. Two broken ribs, the area around both infected and inflamed. That explained the pain factor and the fever.  
  
A piece of bone had been chipped off of one rib and the other was poking in at an odd angle, pressing against her lung. I winced. How could she not have told anyone? This could have been seriously life threatening. What if the lung had been punctured? Leaving my own thoughts, I concentrated fully on wrapping threads of my magic around Maia's cracked ribs, first restoring them to their original shape and position, and burning out the infection and reinforcing Maia's chafed lung.  
  
After the initial damage was fixed, I realized that Maia had various bruising all over her body, and on the back of her head was a large bump that I suspected was causing a concussion. Maia had been the victim of a beating recently, and I would bet anything that I knew who had doled it out.  
  
It was over an hour later by the time I was finished with Maia. My body was cramped from sitting in the same position for so long. A year ago, it would have barely taken me 30 minutes, if that, to do what had just taken up nearly an hour and a half of my time. I had been one of the fastest and most effective healers, though my training was not yet complete.  
  
I left Maia's room after making sure she was alright. Walking back to my room, I was slightly unnerved. First of all, Maia's implication that I hid from reality irked me. Though merely the ravings of an irrational person, she must've seen some truth to it. It must have been in her thoughts, or it would not have popped out of her mouth so easily. Second of all, Maia's façade was calm and mild, which seemed to betray her train of thought. Were her thoughts always that chaotic? Normally I let the thoughts and feelings just roll on by, not paying attention to them, as they were only bits of thoughts, and were mostly guarded at that. But Maia's thoughts came in loud and clear.  
  
"Almost eerily so," I murmured to myself. It seemed as if she.well, as if she wanted me to read her thoughts, like she was trying to project them to me. I sighed, shaking my head. It must have been something important, if it followed her even into her sleep.  
  
The last part of her thoughts crossed my mind over and over. It was like a premonition, a prophecy.  
  
/Kala will die/ Kala will die/ Kala will die/  
  
It played over and over in my mind, like a broken record. What did this mean? Why did Maia think that? She had lived at the mansion before I had even been born; she obviously had a better grip on how things were run and what was happening throughout the spacious residence. Did someone want me dead? Maia's telling me to leave would make sense, if I was to be the intended victim of...something. Why would someone want me dead? The question vexed me. I hadn't done anything to anyone...or at least I didn't think I had.  
  
And, somewhere in there, she had mentioned Adham, and later Kieran; those must have been left over from what she was trying to tell me about their past. I was curious, but it wasn't exactly my top priority. If I hadn't heard of them, then they couldn't had been that horrible, right?  
  
Not at all like the trio of Arawn, Baldur, and Conall. I shivered despite the warm air in the mansion. They were the most infamous vampires in nearly the entire world, still feared although nothing had been heard of them for a little over 25 years. Their names were still spoken in fearful whispers, the legend renown. Anybody unlucky enough to get within their reach was lucky if they remained alive. And as for those who did remain alive were sickeningly loyal to the trio, choosing death over revealing anything incriminating against their Masters. The few who remained alive were marked with their Masters' names twirling around their right arm from shoulder to elbow, beginning and ending with a swirling train of dripping, blood red ivy.  
  
Hunters everywhere attempted to track them, but just when they dared to believe that they were close on the triad's heels, the insolent three would disappear, and next be seen long distances away, seeming to be in more than one place simultaneously. More than one hunter had set out to track and kill the triad; more than one hunter never returned home.  
  
Okay, so it's not really eventful, but it's still important...questions or comments? My e-mail is MidnightsFlame@hotmail.com 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
  
With a jerk and a loud creak, the door started opening; the sun- shaped knob in the middle of the large stone door had been an ancient combination lock. I stepped through the door, instantly throwing my hands up to shield my eyes from the dazzling silver light at the end of the chamber. My feet seemed to go numb, and yet I floated steadily toward the light, apprehension hanging around my neck like a bag of rocks, and yet a small prick of desire started to blossom in my chest.  
  
A quiet, slow chanting started in the back of my head as I neared the light, which seemed to be coming from a small ornately carved chest on an intricately designed wooden table. The desire of curiosity started to overwhelm me. The chanting consistently grew louder until it seemed like the voices were screeching in my head. I was standing right in front of the chest. Desire swamped my body, but somewhere in the back of the screeching that was in my head I heard a small voice cautioning me not to do whatever it was I was about to do. My hand reached toward the chest, hovering above it.  
  
About 6 inches above the chest, my hand seemed to hit a barrier that scorched my skin. I wanted to pull back, but the pressure building in the back of my mind forced my hand down into the wall of fire. At last, when I wanted to scream in pain, the burning was suddenly gone. I started to sigh in relief when my body tensed with forewarning. A jolt of magic so strong that it nearly knocked me over, arching my spine and throwing my head back blazed through me, searing every last bit of my insides. Sweat poured down my face as the power surged through me like lightning. The pain increased as the chanting voices shrieked within and without my head, compressing the air, sucking the oxygen out my body. I started to tremor, slightly at first, but then it transformed quickly into mind-jarring, teeth-chattering convulsions.  
  
At last, when I thought I could bear no more pain- it all disappeared, as suddenly as it had begun.  
  
I awoke with a start and winced as something tore at my flesh. As my eyes adjusted to the pitch black that surrounded me, I couldn't help but wonder where I was. In the woods, no doubt, but how had I gotten there? I winced again as I shifted and something else poked into the small of my back. I could feel blood trickling down one of my legs. Goosebumps ran up my arms as the breeze whispered gently through the haunting leaves. I gently began to pull at the branches that ensnared me, trying not to gouge or remove any of my remaining flesh. When I was almost done, I heard soft laughter around me. I jumped a foot in the air, releasing myself from the remaining branches that had trapped me in a cage of twigs, leaves, and brutal thorns.  
  
The voice that had startled me spoke again.  
  
"Having fun, healer? Do you know where you are?" I turned around to face the vampire slowly.  
  
"Kieran!" I said, surprised. I couldn't see his face because clouds hid the moon, but I would know his voice anywhere.  
  
His smirk turned into a short bark of laughter, and then a grimace.  
  
"Yes," he said to himself. "Understandable as to how you might make that mistake."  
  
The clouds shifted again and his face was revealed.  
  
He had the same high cheekbones, the same full lips and stubborn chin, even the same shaped eyes that turned up slightly at the corner. But his hair was the wrong color and style; spiked with black roots that transformed into frosty blond tips. His eyes were the wrong color too, one a luminescent silvery blue that reflected the light of the crescent moon, and the other a deep, glowingly demonic red. Everything about his aura was wrong. It had a harder edge, a more commanding undertone, and a more demanding and harsh overtone. How had I ever mistaken him for Kieran?  
  
"Adham," I whispered, backing away slowly. This was the vampire whose residence I had lived in, but had not met.  
  
Adham inclined his head in a polite manner and walked toward me, his gleaming eyes roving up and down my body then finally settling on my face with a piercing glare. The air seemed to compress around me; finally, I had to look away, and the tension released.  
  
I retreated again as he sauntered slowly toward me, but stopped when I reached a thick wall of menacing, overgrown trees and underbrush. Adham stopped only inches away from me. He tilted my head up with a finger under my chin and looked me over with languid pleasure.  
  
"My brother chooses his interests well. You are of.exquisite beauty, I must say."  
  
I jerked my head away from his grasp and leaned back as far away from him as I could.  
  
He laughed, a brusque sound when it contained no mirth.  
  
"Darkness is alluring," his said in hushed tones that made me shiver. "Do you not want to join us?" His mind slid into mine and whispered of the seductive darkness that captivated his life. I was about to fall forward into the peaceful void of blackness, but then a picture of Kieran flashed in my head and I jerked back. Adham laughed again. His finger caught a drop of crimson blood that trailed down my arm from a shallow scratch and he placed his finger in his mouth.  
  
The next thing I knew, his lips had sealed over the small scrape and he was licking the blood away. I was repulsed but kept still. He had my arm twisted so that if I moved, I would dislocate my own shoulder. I felt his body shiver with delight and pain as he pulled away, licking the last trace of my blood off of his lips.  
  
"Adham," a steely voice behind him said. "How nice to meet you out here." Adham sighed.  
"Likewise, brother," he replied in a bored tone. I peered around Adham and my eyes lit upon the real Kieran.  
  
His eyes were dark with malice and the air seemed strained between them, thick with hate. When he saw my movement his eyes flickered over me with surprise. "Kala," he said. "What are you doing out here? Why are you with Adham? Come here."  
  
I started to obey him but Adham's arm shot out and I bumped into it. I tried to duck under his outstretched arm, but he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me too his side, his hand resting uninvited on my hip.  
  
When I tried to push away, he wrapped both arms around me and rested his lips on my hair, lightly swaying back and forth to unheard music. I remained tense as he let go of me only to trail his finger through the thin line of blood that trickled down my arm. He licked it off his finger, staring straight at Kieran, his eyes holding challenge. He lowered his lips to mine and surprised me with a gentle kiss. I could feel the tension growing and tightening between them, like a rubberband stretched to its limit and ready to snap. Turning his back on Kieran was an open challenge; he didn't feel as if Kieran was a threat.  
  
"I highly suggest that you cease what you are doing and hand her over to me." Kieran's voice was remarkably calm, as though her were merely suggesting that they go for a walk.  
  
Adham turned to face him. "And if I don't?"  
  
Another challenge. Kieran arched his brow. "Brother, you know very well that she is mine. You could have claimed her but you did not. I did. Now release her."  
  
"But, have you not forgotten the pact?" Adham said in mock amazement. "What is yours is mine, and what is mine is yours."  
  
"Those days are long gone, Adham. You know they are. They disintegrated when Blaine was killed." Kieran's soft voice could barely be heard above the rustling trees.  
  
There was silence for a few moments as they both stared intensely at each other. I was willing to bet that a mental conversation was going on. I kept quiet, still braced against Adham's chest. At last, Adham sighed deeply. "Very well," he said gravely, and his arms fell from around me. I took the opportunity to run to Kieran, who in turn folded me in his arms tightly. I buried my face in his shoulder, realizing that I was shaking, but with fear or relief, I do not know. Kieran stroked my back lovingly for a moment then eased into my mind.  
  
Sleep, he commanded. I felt my eyelids drooping as sleep enveloped me.  
"But." I whispered.  
  
Kieran pressed a finger to my lips to silence me and once again commanded that I sleep.  
  
I gave in to the weighty pressure at the back of my mind, leaning against Kieran as I fell into a deep sleep. Before I fell, words as cold as ice slipped into my mind.  
  
And so you are safe.For now, healer. I will find you again, when times are more to my suiting...Till next we meet.  
  
A/- not too horrible, huh? Questions? Comments? My e-mail is MidnightsFlame@hotmail.com and now, feel free to review..... 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9  
  
When I awoke, I was again in Kieran's bed, his arms wrapped possessively around me. He awoke when I stirred.  
  
"Kieran, I." My voice trailed off.  
  
"Hush. We need not speak of last night."  
  
"But-" I protested.  
  
"You have questions, I know. They will all be answered.in due time."  
  
"And when will that be?" I demanded, pulling away from him to sit up.  
  
Kieran laughed softly, his hand cupping my cheek gently, stroking it lightly with his thumb.  
  
"Not a morning person, are we?"  
  
"You of all people should know that," I reminded him.  
  
"Yes, as well I should. Leave, Kala," he said, a trace of amusement still playing in his voice. "Go occupy yourself with meddling elsewhere. You need not know about matters that don't concern you."  
  
I glared at him, but did as he wished and left. Kieran stayed around that day, doing nothing in particular, trailing me, and keeping an ever-watchful eye on me. I had the feeling that he was making sure Adham didn't pay me any unwanted visits. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled with anticipation and alertness for the rest of the day. I felt as though someone other than Kieran was watching my every move, and contemplating the next.  
  
That night, I fell uneasily into a fitful sleep, tossing and turning with each horrible twist in my dream.  
  
I was four again, peacefully playing in my front yard with a favorite doll and an old, chipped china tea set on a crisp, clear spring day. The stormy skies of the previous day had transformed into a crystalline azure, not a fluffy white cloud to be seen. Flowers had opened up and Mama's gardens sang of beautiful weather and a lovely day yet to unfold.  
  
I was filled with the exuberance and the wonders that only a child feels. The storms had raged for nearly a week, howling with all their might, barely breaking in their torrential sheets of rain. I had ventured outside only once, tired of being cooped up in the stuffy old house with my prissy older sisters, without Shane to keep them in their place and to protect me from their cruel taunts.  
  
"They're just jealous," my brother would whisper to me when I came to him with tears welling in my eyes, threatening to spill over at the end of a particularly hard day when all it seemed I had been able to do was get in everyone's way. Wiping my tear-streaked face gently with his large hands, he would say, "You have the freedom that they lost long ago. And you.have a certain aura about you. People love you after just one glance. You're special, Kal; you bring life to anyone who's feeling sad. Promise me you'll never lose that. The world is a scary place, but you're brave. You can handle anything that comes at you, as long as you look to the light. It might not make sense now, but just promise me, that no matter what, you'll always look to the light."  
  
Shane hadn't been around much that month. During the week he was at a school far away learning and testing out new hunting techniques, and when he came home for the weekend, he locked himself in his room, immersed in his studies all day and went hunting with Daddy at night. I barely saw him anymore, except for the occasional smile over a hurried meal before he went rushing back to his room.  
  
"Kalantha, come inside! It's long past the time to start your studies! You should have been ready nearly 30 minutes ago!" Mama's weary voice called from the door of the large brick house. Mama bore the 2-year-old Alexandra on her hip, an awkward position for a woman who was nearly ready to give birth to her 7th child.  
  
I frowned, puzzled. I had been ready long before that; it was she who told me to go outside and play. As her patience wore thin these days, I didn't bother to correct her, but merely patted my doll on the head as I passed her chair on my way inside. Now that I was a big girl of four years old, I could officially begin my studies of herb lore and how to manipulate the healing points in the human body, though I had been taught from the cradle about various plants and their healing properties.  
  
The only sounds I could hear were Mama's labored breathing and the creaking of the old stairs as we climbed the narrow staircase up to the attic, where the healing room and the bedroom I shared with Alexandra were.  
  
The magic made my skin tingle pleasantly as it flowed over me, like a cool breeze on an unbearably hot summer day. The walls were lined with shelves, on which stood many jars and packets of herbs. Thick bunches of sweet-smelling herbs hung overhead, tied to the ceiling and swinging lightly as air currents rustled through the open windows of the large room. Mama reached up to the top of a shelf and pulled down a heavy book, thick with yellowing pages. She blew the thin layer of dust off of the gilded cover as she brought it over to the old table in the center of the room and set it down, opening up the book to where we had left off.  
  
She pointed to the top of the page and sat back with her eyes closed as I began reading.  
  
I nodded off easily that night. Mama had kept me working with my magic for nearly the whole morning and then again for a few hours in the afternoon. She must have forgotten that I didn't have as much control over my magic and therefore let more of it drain into healing than was really necessary. She let me stop only when she saw that I had nodded off while standing. I could barely keep awake through dinner, and went right to sleep afterwards, before even baby Alexandra's bedtime. I said a sleepy goodnight to Shane, but he didn't acknowledge it, and he didn't come up to read to me until I fell asleep, as he usually did. He had been acting oddly for the last day or so; at every little noise he jumped. A nervous tick had developed at the corner of his left eye and his eyes were constantly darting around restlessly.  
  
Waiting for him to come read to me, my eyelids slowly drooped until everything was blurry and shadows danced across my vision. Darkness cradled my small body and swept me off to sleep before I knew what was happening.  
  
I jerked awake much later that night, not fully aware of what had roused me from my deep slumber. The hair on the back of my neck rose in warning and I shivered convulsively. Someone or something unwanted was in my room. I listened hard and heard something treading lightly on the wooden floors. I rolled over and instantly my body ran cold with fear. I was staring straight into a pair of glowing green eyes. A soft laugh reached my ears and the person leaned down over me.  
  
"The little sister."  
  
In one swift movement, my covers were thrown back and I was seized up into the thing's arms. My head was pulled aside and my thick curls were brushed away to expose my neck. I stiffened up with fright as I snapped to reality. Not a moment later, the creature's mouth was at my throat and the delicate skin encasing my veins held only for a moment before giving way to a pair of razor-sharp teeth. I was falling for only a moment before being caught and held up by a rushing current of energy. My mind fogged over and my body seemed to be left behind as I soared higher and higher, delighted by the fact that I could fly. The room around me became hazy and unfocused. Lights blurred with shadows, forming monstrous creatures, jeering at me, mocking me with their sluggish motions and derogative leering.  
  
Somewhere in the back of my mind I heard my door being flung open and the creature that held me ripped his fangs from my throat as he hissed in pain. I fell back onto the bed in a dazed sort of way, not able to tell if I was asleep, if I was still dreaming. Sleepily I heard scuffling coming from the corner of my room. There was a sickening thud and a crack then soft, cold laughter.  
  
"Teach you to mess with vampires.remember, I have blood claim on you and your whole family." Once again I was in the vampire's arms, my blood pouring out of my veins, my life slowly ebbing away. Suddenly the vampire stiffened, and fell forward on top of me.  
  
I fell crashing backward into reality and further as pictures flashed painfully through my head. Blinding lights and piercing darkness alternately skittered and raced across my mind's eye. My eyes rolled up in my head and my body seized up torturously, my muscles tensing and clamping. Agonizing pain flared throughout my body, razing through me like fire through my veins, singeing every part of me.  
  
The dead vampire was rolled off of me and I vaguely recognized Shane standing over me, scratched and bleeding on his face. Thick, metallic smelling crimson was spreading over his bare chest from his shredded skin.  
  
He picked me up gently, but I unintentionally fought him. Every part of me was twitching and writhing madly with pain. At long last, I slid into the deep abyss of oblivion; I knew no more of that night.  
  
Shane's funeral was the next day. It was a quiet procession; tears had been shed until no more would fall. The stormy, gray skies had returned again, mourning the loss of my brother in its own form of misty rain and the occasional rumble of distant thunder, slowly rolling across the foggy hills.  
  
The polished ebony casket was lowered into the ground and white rose petals were scattered around and over it. I held a handful of rose petals in my clenched fist, but couldn't bring myself to walk closer to the chasm.  
  
It was my fault that this had happened, that Shane was now lying trapped and cold with death inside the box that had been lowered down below the ground that we walk upon.  
  
That morning, I had awoken in my parents' bed, feeling a bit lightheaded and achy, but otherwise fine. I had called for Shane, but my mother came in with puffy, red-rimmed eyes to tell me quietly that Shane was gone. She told me that it wasn't my fault, but I heard her and my father conversing among their friends softly. Shane had poured his life into me to keep me alive. He had sacrificed himself for me.  
  
They had come upstairs not too long after the fight had ended, to find me lying peacefully sleeping in Shane's arms. My breath came in shallow gasps, but his failed to escape his lips ever again. They didn't know the entire story; I refused to talk and shielded my mind from my mother's probing. My mother was worried about me; she said my silence wasn't natural. A child should express their feelings, let everything out, but I hadn't cried; instead, I took the news with utter stillness and a thin-lipped expression, my eyes red with unshed tears that I wouldn't let fall.  
  
A sudden gust of wind whipped up around me, tugging at the rose petals that were still clasped in my hand. I lifted my arm up and cast the petals into the gale. They were whisked around me in a whirling storm of sweet smelling white. My headband was torn out of my hair, letting it fly free in all directions as the wind encircled me, ever growing faster and faster. I slowly raised my arms to the sky and began twirling around and around, smiling at the sky and the slim ray of sunshine that had slit through the clouds.  
It was over as soon as it began. The wind was suddenly gone and the petals slowly drifted to the ground and settled there; silence surrounded me like a thick blanket. I slowly opened my eyes, still smiling. The sky remained gray, dull, and lifeless. My mother came to lead me away from the grave with an arm around my shoulders. I pulled away and turned back to face my brother's tombstone once more.  
  
For, in that sudden forceful gale, I knew I had heard my brother once again, for the last time. His gentle whisper had made happy shivers run up the length of my spine. "Promise me.that you'll always look to the light."  
  
"I promise, Shane," I whispered quietly, now looking toward the sky where the single ray of sun shone through a break in the dense clouds again.  
  
My mother looked at me sympathetically then drew my hand between her own hands. She kissed my hand gently, then patted it and started to tug me away again. I went reluctantly, still looking back. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10  
  
I snapped awake at the sound of someone sobbing. I sat up and looked around questioningly before I realized that it was I who had been crying. My cheeks were wet with tears of remembrance of Shane.  
  
I reached up and touched my neck as I felt something warm slowly sliding downward. I looked at my fingertips, calling on a bit of magic that made my skin shimmer with pale blue. The liquid smeared on my fingers was an inky purple. I slowly licked my finger, though I already suspected what it was. I grimaced as the metallic taste filled my mouth.  
  
There was an exasperated sigh from the other side of my bed.  
  
"Kala, why did you call me?" Kieran asked sharply. "You don't appear to be in any danger. And you interrupted my." he cleared his throat. "Is there anything you want?"  
  
I stupidly turned to face him, then realized what I had done a moment too late. His skin was pallid with hunger, his eyes dark with bloodlust as they fell to my bleeding throat. I slowly backed out of my bed, my hand going to my neck to cover the blood. He walked toward me, his eyes on my neck. I had backed into a corner before I realized that I had to run for it, but where to, I didn't know. My heart pounded in my ears as I slowly inched in the direction of the door.  
  
"Kieran." I said, but my voice failed me. I raised my other hand over my head and snapped my fingers loudly, hoping to bring his attention to my face. Maybe if I could do that, then.  
  
It worked, but only for a second. His eyes flitted to my eyes then back to my throat. A look of twisted fury and helplessness clouded his features.  
  
When I was only five feet from the door, I bolted. He caught me before I had even gotten a few steps in the direction of the door and, clutching my shoulders, slammed me into the wall. My head reeled and my arms were frozen to my side. I struggled to get away from his cold grip, but it was no use. His body pressed tightly against mine, holding me against the wall. My breathing was coming in short gasps as fear swamped me. I struggled again, but then realized that what I did only brought out his hunter's instinct as he gave up resisting and pulled me swiftly and smoothly away from the wall and into a paralyzing grip and unsheathed his fangs. The moment before his fangs pierced my neck, a thought slipped despairingly through my mind.  
  
"Promise me.that you'll always look to the light."  
  
A/- interesting ending...sorta...well, w/e u think, just REVIEW! (yeah that's right...the lil grayish blue button at the bottom on the left!!!) 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11  
  
Kieran pushed himself away from Kala in horror. The only sound he had been able to hear was her fearful heartbeat as it pounded blood throughout her body. The smell of her rich, sweet witch's blood and her struggling had excited him beyond belief and the bloodlust had become overwhelming. Hunting instinct had surfaced and he gave up trying to quell it.  
  
Kieran stepped back from the body of Kala, filled with dread. The instant his damned fangs had punctured her throat, her body had tensed up and began twitching uncontrollably. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as her muscles clenched and unclenched rapidly.  
  
"What have I done?" he murmured, filled with self-enmity. His mind rushed frantically. What was happening? What should he do? Get help, yes. But who? He doubted the old woman that acted as nurse in this house knew anything of healing spontaneous madness. No doctor would either. A healer might, but to whom should he go?  
  
The answer crept up in the back of his mind unnoticed. Suddenly it dawned on him.  
  
A halo of white-blond hair lay tousled around an angelic face. Long blond eyelashes rested feather-like on fair-skinned cheeks. The girl that lay sleeping did not resemble Kala in the slightest way. And yet, they were related. This was Alexandra, Kala's fifteen-year-old sister.  
  
No doubt she hadn't completed her training in herb lore, but she was in a better position to help Kala than he was. Kieran had tried to enter Kala's mind to restrain her movements, but he had hastily pulled back. A wall of scorching fire had set itself around Kala's thoughts, and he couldn't get in.  
  
He shook the girl gently, whispering her name into her mind.  
  
Alex awoke with a gasp, bolting upright and slamming mental shields in place before Kieran was out of her mind. Kieran winced with pain as the shields hit him full force.  
  
He put a finger to his lips to motion her to be quiet and quickly explained why he was there.  
  
Alex was skeptical at first. Why should she believe that her beloved older sister was still alive, and, no less, in the care of leeches? And she hadn't even tried to contact anyone or leave?  
  
Kieran hesitated. "Where I live, where Kala is.it's surrounded by walls of magic. Incoming and outgoing messages go haywire when they hit the walls, unless they're sent through a certain code. And Kala.did not feel the need to leave."  
  
Alex frowned at him. "How do I know you're telling the truth?" She said suspiciously.  
  
"You can't be certain.but if not for some important matter, why would I be here? And if I really intended to feed off of you, you and I both know that I could have done so easily. And this." Kieran took Alex's hand, held it palm up, and dropped something into it.  
  
"Her necklace," Alex murmured, studying the small amulet that lay in her hand. Kieran hadn't had time to examine the necklace and its charm, but looked on as Alex peered at it.  
  
Kieran's breath caught in his throat. "The mark of the Chosen One," he whispered under his breath.  
  
Alex looked up sharply. "What did you say?"  
  
Kieran ignored her question and replaced the silence with one of his own. "Where did she get that?"  
  
"I don't know," Alex said tartly. "She had it for as long as I could remember."  
  
The small amulet was an opalescent sun. Colors swirled and raged beneath the surface like a raving storm, luring your eyes into its deranged chaos and capturing your mind.  
  
Alex clutched the necklace in her fist that was laid over her heart. Her eyes were closed, as if she were meditating.  
  
Finally, when Kieran felt he couldn't stand it any longer, that he would grab her and shake her as hard as he could, Alex opened her eyes with new determination.  
  
"Alright, I believe you," She said firmly. "Take me to her."  
  
Kieran put his hand on her arm and willed them back to Kala.  
  
His last fleeting thoughts before they left were: Those dreams of hers could very well have been a coincidence. Who was to say that Kala couldn't have picked up a stray thought of his, and her imagination hadn't played with the idea a bit, twisting it until it fit? He knew of the burning curiosity that dwelled in her. The need to know what was at the end of the path consumed her. The only problem was, Kala did know. She had seen what lay at the end of the path, she just didn't know it. Kieran knew from her dreams that she had seen that temple. His deepest fears were now confirmed. Kala was indeed the Chosen One, the one who would bring about the destruction of the entirety of the human kind.  
  
A/N: hmmm...kinda a cliffhanger huh? Don't care, just review! 


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for the long wait...I was plagued with writer's block...well, not really...I just didn't feel like writing! Oh well...here's chappie 12!  
  
Chapter 12  
  
"Lecta," the harsh voice said in a jagged whisper. It had started out as light as a summer breeze, gently caressing my tortured mind, but the message grew ever more distressful and urgent. "Lecta."  
  
"Please, stop," I begged. "I don't understand!"  
  
I struggled in vain against the invisible bonds that kept me chained in one position. Impenetrable darkness pressed in on me from all sides; I could not see anything.  
  
"Filae nox noctis..."  
  
In a sudden bust of rage and energy, I screamed, "I don't speak Latin! English! I speak English!"  
  
"Chosen One....a daughter of the night..." the voice had lost its harsh tones and was now speaking slowly, hesitantly.  
  
"Yes," I whispered back, filled with anticipation.  
  
The voice began to chant in a hauntingly lilting tone.  
  
"Born with the blazing sun  
In the dead of the night  
Distant from the dark  
But further from the light  
  
Faces the dark  
Hands in a fist  
Unable to escape  
Death's final kiss  
  
Obeying, defying  
They'll catch her this time  
Living, dying  
For the race sublime  
  
Slipping closer  
Run though she might  
She can't escape  
Powerless to fight  
  
Drowning in life  
Sacrificing breath  
Plagued with darkness  
Doomed to Eternal Death."  
  
It paused, seemingly awaiting my reaction. I didn't move a muscle, hoping for a better explanation as to what this recitation meant; but I wasn't so lucky as to receive one.  
  
"The puzzle is nearly complete, but the key is missing...strayed from its path...yet so close to its final destination...the key shall soon be found...and then..." I strained to hear the voice, fading fast, seeping into the darkness from whence it came.  
  
"And then?" I prompted, listening with bated breath. There was silence, thicker than the air before a storm. Finally, when I had almost lost hope of hearing it again, the faint whisper brushed across the room on a light breeze  
  
"And then...the Realm of the Night shall overpower the Realm of the Human Race and it will result in the Darkest Realm that will last for all eternity!" The voice rose to a scream; wind whistled and howled around me, stealing the breath from my lips and lashing my hair painfully against my skin. Thunder crashed and lightning tore the sky in half, the world ripping at its seams, letting all hell break loose.  
  
*cough* *cough* don't mind the terrible poetry...lol, idk y I even put it in there cuz it's so bad! But w/e...just review! 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
  
Kieran watched Alex closely and, though she made no remark, he saw her eyes widen slightly. This girl was little better at hiding her emotions than her older sister. She sank to her knees guardedly beside Kala, who was still writhing madly on the floor, muscles clenched in what looked like a painful way. Alex stroked her sisters forehead gently, staring off into space, then abruptly snapped back to the present.  
  
"Of course," she murmured under her breath. "How could I not have known?"  
  
"What?" Kieran said sharply. He had been staring at her with a look of mixed anticipation and helplessness, debating whether to stand still or start pacing.  
  
"The sleeping fits," Alex explained. "Seizures. Kala was...prey to a vampire when she was younger. Our brother killed the vampire while it fed off her. That's all she ever told us. But she often had seizures afterwards; they were brought on mostly by contact with vampires, but sometimes they came randomly, or as far as we knew, they were. She never talked much about it. I'm surprised this is the first one." She paused, glancing at him from under her lashes. "It is the first time, isn't it?"  
  
"What? Oh, yeah, I think so. But, the question is, can you make them go away?"  
  
Alex stared him straight in the eye. "You fed off of her, didn't you?" she said softly.  
  
Kieran couldn't meet her icy blue gaze; silence dragged on.  
  
Alex repeated herself, her accusing tone dripping with malice.  
  
Kieran winced. "Yes. I-" he paused, as if contemplating what to say. "It was an accident."  
  
"Was it?" Alex's voice had gone shrilly. She steeled herself from saying more. "Take me home." She demanded. "Now."  
  
Kieran looked at her, amazed. "You're not going to help?"  
  
She looked at him as if he were an ignorant fool before replying saucily, "I didn't say that, now did I? I can't do anything to help Kala unprepared. The herb mixture that our mother used to prevent the onset of her seizures is at my house."  
  
Before she even finished the sentence, Kieran had willed them back to her bedroom.  
  
Alex crept silently out into the healing room, careful to step over or around creaky boards. She rifled through the cabinets and shelves before sighing in dismay.  
  
"What?"  
"It's not here. She must have locked it up when Kala...disappeared." Alex glanced at a door in the far corner of the room.  
  
"Do you know where it is? Can you get at it somehow?" Kieran persisted, his voice cracking with apprehension.  
  
"I..." Alex paused, and then shrugged hopelessly, shaking her head and running both hands through her hair and tugging nervously at the silken strands. "I know where it is, but I probably won't be able to get at it. When Kala was still here it was kept high up on the shelf, where it was easily available, when it was needed. The medicine is a mixture of 5 herbs, and if brewed and used correctly, it can heal seizures, but if not...it can kill. It's very hard to mix because it relies on the herbs having to be picked and brewed at certain times of the waxing and waning moon. A single hour off, and the whole batch can be ruined."  
  
"Just try," Kieran pleaded. "I don't know what I'd do if Kala died because of me."  
  
Alex shot him a frown before walking over to the door. She bowed her head down till her chin rested on her chest and laid her hand palm-down on the door. Her eyes closed in concentration. Beads of sweat popped out on her brow.  
  
After what seemed like forever, she heaved a great sigh, opening her eyes and looking up apologetically at Kieran. "I can't do it. The charms are too strong, and I haven't learned that type of magic yet. Only my mother knows how to get in and perhaps my other sisters. But not me. I can't get in. Kala is going to have to pull herself out of this one." 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14  
  
"What do you mean, you can't do it?" Kieran's eyes flashed in the dark as his nerves got the best of him and he pulled his fist back and threw a punch at the wall. Alex stepped in front of the wall quickly and the fist stopped barely a half-inch before her throat.  
  
"That was asinine. I could have snapped your neck and killed you easily." Kieran stated softly, rubbing his clenched knuckles with his other hand as if he had hit a phantom wall.  
  
"You're supposed to have lightning reflexes, and I figured that you'd stop if you saw that you were going to hit me, not the wall." Alex leaned toward him conspiratorially. "It would be easier to heal myself than to fix the wall. I have not the skills of a carpenter."  
  
Kieran smirked.  
  
"So, just calm down. Take a deep breath and relax."  
  
"You forget that I'm a vampire; I need not breathe."  
  
"But you do, and your heart beats more often than other vampires' I've confronted. Your body may be vampiric, but your soul will never be. Plus, you don't threaten me. You couldn't kill me if you tried."  
  
He sighed impatiently. "You don't know of what-"  
  
"Yes, I most certainly do know what I'm talking about." Alex interrupted him, continuing with a sneer in her voice, casting him a sideways glance. "Physically, yes, you could kill me in an instant. But mentally? You couldn't do it."  
  
Kieran flexed his muscles threateningly. "Many of my kind have killed for less than that of which you boldly, and openly, declare."  
  
"Ooh, I'm so scared, I'm shaking in my boxers. You know you couldn't, so don't bother denying it, Conall. You've long since earned the nickname of human- and witch-lover. So much has changed since your downfall."  
  
Kieran merely stared incredulously at her, his mouth dropping open. "How-"  
  
Alex walked around him slowly with her arms crossed over her chest, seeming to size him up. "How, indeed? Must've been quite a shock to be demoted from one-third of the most feared group among witches, vampires, and humans alike, to being mocked behind your back, cowering and running from those who dared to confront you. What on Earth happened?" She asked with mock sincerity.  
  
Kieran, whose breathing had grown increasingly ragged, and whose blood now boiled from anger within his veins, decided he could take no more ridiculing from this witch, who wasn't even fully grown. In one swift movement, he turned, grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall, pinning her there with a forearm over her throat, threatening to crush her vocal cords. His knife was poised over her heart, the point pressing gently but dangerously into her, not quite hard enough to break the skin. He expected to see some sort of fear or anger, even if it was just a flicker. Kieran stared at her; it was all he could do at the moment. Far from fear or anger, Alex looked delighted. She actually looked happy, as if there was nothing that she liked more than to have her life threatened.  
  
"Do it," She croaked, her eyes gleaming. "I dare you." She leaned into his knife and forearm, constricting her throat even more.  
  
Kieran put pressure on both points, leaning close to her. He could feel her breath on his cheek, and her pulse, slow and controlled beneath his arm.  
  
"Do it," Alex repeated, her voice still barely louder than a whisper. "I'm your only hope for Kala. Kill me, and you might as well go kiss her good-bye. My family is already looking to punish the one who is keeping Kala hostage. Kill me and it'll only seal the deal. They will hunt you down and murder you in cold blood. And that is a promise."  
  
She stared him down, glare for glare, nothing remotely resembling fear or rage in her pale blue eyes. After a moment, Kieran dropped his arm, resheathed his knife, and stepped back, admitting defeat.  
  
Alex stepped away from the wall, massaging her throat gently.  
  
"How did you know?" Kieran said, his voice dangerously soft.  
  
"Hm?" Alex raised her eyebrows. "Oh, it was just a guess, then I saw your brother, and I was pretty certain."  
  
"What are you talking about? When did you see him? He wasn't in the room."  
  
Alex eyed him sympathetically. "Amazing how much you turn a blind eye to something you don't want to see, isn't it?"  
  
"I don't know what you think you saw, but it wasn't him. If he was there, I would've sensed him."  
  
She shook her head, smiling tolerantly as if she was explaining something to a toddler. "Witches can hide their auras at some points of the month, so that it's near impossible to distinguish them from humans. Hate to break it to you, but vampires are the same way, dear."  
  
"How do you know that this wasn't a human? There are plenty of humans there; anyone of them could've wandered in at any time." Kieran protested.  
Alex patted his cheek tenderly. "Poor, poor dear. You must've been out to lunch the day common sense was distributed. Humans are nervous, fragile creatures. If one thing does not go according to plan, or if a single thing is amiss, they absolutely lose their minds in a frantic, scrambling hurry to get out of the way. Humans wouldn't stand calmly, deep in the shadows of a corner of a room in which a girl was having convulsions for no apparent reason. And humans don't have phosphorescent eyes, and especially not one a shocking blue, and the other bright red." She paused contemplatively. "It was said that each of the Triad had bicolor eyes. As they advanced on their fallen prey, one from each side, forming a triangle, their eyes glowed, with beams of light matching the eye-color projecting from the pupil. The beams cut through everything, like lasers, including metal and skin. The surges of light would meet above the victim's head and bounce around in an invisible enclosure around them, driving the human mad before they made the kill."  
  
She glanced at Kieran, who had turned his back, his shoulders hunched, and was staring stonily at the opposite wall.  
  
"Not many vampires have different colored eyes; it was a dead giveaway. Pride," She snorted contemptuously. "It was the downfall of many great civilizations and people, and it will be his also."  
  
A/N: dum de dum dum dum...review now please! 


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
  
"You threaten my blood-brother. I should kill you," Kieran's menacing voice purred from deep in his throat as he glanced at Alex slyly from under his eyelashes.  
  
A loud snort of derisive laughter issued from Alex. "Wow, you must be in a good mood today. What is that, three or four threats now? You should have noticed...you don't scare me." She leaned closer with each word until she her mouth was right by Kieran's ear. An unwanted shiver ran up his spine. Alex smiled and pulled back, but only slightly.  
  
"Do I scare you?" She ran her index fingernail down his face from his temple to the corner of his full lips. He moved to throw her hand away, but she quickly dodged his blow and darted her hand under his arm to slide his knife out of the sheath. Kieran stopped, surprised to find his life imperiled by his own knife. A slow, sardonic smile inched across his lips as the blade pressed experimentally into the base of his throat.  
  
"You would make a decent hunter; your reflexes are fast." He disappeared and reappeared behind her, grabbing her before she had the chance to slash at him. He wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her firmly against him and held the knife to her throat. He bent close to her and whispered, "But not fast enough. I've dealt with many hunters, little witchling. You are not the first, and will not be the last, to threaten my existence, whether it be playful or not. I suggest that this meaningless banter cease and we get down to business. Kala is in danger, is she not? You said you could not help her because the herbal mixture is somewhere you can't get it. Tell me where it is or I swear I'll blow this place apart to find it. However, that may take a while, and it may be rather messy, so I implore you to tell me, and save your house and family."  
  
"Can't get one sentence out without threatening me, can you?"  
  
"I could say the same of you."  
  
"So...Why can't you get it?" Kieran persisted.  
  
Alex sighed agitatedly, shifting her weight from one leg to another. She rolled her eyes as if the answer was obvious. "I don't know this type of magic yet, and even if I did, I wouldn't have enough power to work the counteractive spell."  
  
"Not enough power? I can open my power to you, and you can channel it towards breaking the spells."  
  
Alex looked at him suspiciously. "That might work...but how do you know that I won't drain you? I could easily kill you if I took too much, or even if I wanted to."  
  
Kieran stared into her eyes. "I don't. I'll just have to trust you, as you had to trust me."  
  
"But won't it...?" She cleared her throat and started over. "If I channel your power, wont a trace be left in my system? I'll be tainted with vampiric power, almost as bad as the blood itself. My mother...won't be happy, and there will be no way to conceal it."  
  
"I'm not going to lie. I don't know; I've never done this before, but it would make sense that you would be left with a bit of my power...and perhaps access to my thoughts, or the rest of my power. It's your sister or yourself, Alexandra. You have to choose. Hurry or we might be too late."  
  
"Alright," Alex said hesitatingly. She again placed one palm on the door and the other over Kieran's heart. Instantly her mind was filled with a roaring vortex of blackness, swirling into her mind and rendering everything useless.  
  
"Not so much..." She whispered faintly, struggling to retain her losing humanity. The sable stream of energy slowed until it was at a manageable level. Alex gathered the strength into a single bolt and hurled it at the door with all her mental power. The charms wavered but held. She concentrated again, this time forcing all the power to be sent at a single spot of the spell in a steady stream. The air thickened with tension as the spells started to contract slowly. All at once there was a deafening explosion that made the entire house shake; Alex was blown backward into Kieran, the wind knocked from her lungs. Charged electricity tingled throughout her veins and her head felt light.  
  
"I'll assume that means that the spells were broken?" Kieran voiced wryly. He had been knocked off his feet when Alex's weight had hit him full-force, sending them both crashing to the ground in a tangle of flailing arms and legs. Alex blinked uncomprehendingly; the sudden jolt of power that had torn through her rent her temporarily senseless. Kieran climbed to his feet and offered Alex a hand up. She shook her head and blinked a couple of times, everything still a little fuzzy.  
  
"You okay?" Kieran asked, taking her chin in his hands and staring into her unfocused eyes. She felt him skimming across her mind, looking for any injury. "Temporary shock; you'll be fine once it fades away," He muttered, looking around.  
  
Alex suddenly snapped back into focus and headed toward the door, carefully stepping over broken glass and picture frames; the thunderous shake had knocked bottles from shelves and pictures from walls. "Better hurry. My family sleeps soundly, but not that soundly. They'll be here in a moment." Kieran followed her into the small room and searched for the small bottled of Kala's medicine.  
  
"It's in a small blue bottle," Alex murmured. Her heart was pounding now; she could sense her family hurrying quietly up the steps. A few more seconds and they would be in the room.  
  
Both searched frantically, knocking bottles off the many shelves in their haste. Kieran claimed triumphantly, "I've got it!" and held up the bottle for Alex to confirm. She nodded in approval and her heart skipped a beat; her family was right outside the door, their power gathering, preparing to blast the door down. Alex threw herself at Kieran, wrapping her arms around his middle and squeezing her eyes shut. This was it. They were done for. She had used much of Kieran's power resource to shatter the charms; he was helpless to get them out of there.  
  
A/N: hehehe...first cliffhanger in a lil while, huh? And u won't hear a thing from me for a week! I'm off to a cabin on a lake for one week...the one bad thing? Forget complete isolation from humans (who needs 'em anyway?) I won't have the internet! AHHH! I shall die...anywho, just review! (heh heh heh...that rhymes!) 


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I'm BAAAAAAAAAACK! has anyone ever been water tubing? OMFG it's FUN! lol but anywho, thanx for all the reviews so far, I'm sure u know how appreciated they are, many, if not all, of you being writers yourselves.  
  
Alia: have no fear! I will finish this fic! I know where I want it to end up, and I've got a pretty good idea of how I'll get there...  
  
Krikoris: your writing is NOT bad at all! Far from it in fact! Personally, I like cliffhangers, it's easier to remember them, and it keeps u in suspense! And heh heh heh...that bit about the football teams was funny...lol  
  
Moonlitdemon: I woulda had kieran knock some sense into alex, but I felt like being nice at the moment, and plus, he needs her help, and I wanted her to make him feel that he needed her, whether he liked it or not...  
  
And without further ado, I give you chapter 16...  
  
Chapter 16  
  
The room looked like an earthquake ravaged it. Marisol Reed clung to her husband's arm as they looked around. The air was potent with bitter smelling herbs that lay crushed on the floor. A sharp prick of warning stabbed at the back of her mind. Something, besides the smashed phials, was amiss. She got her husband's attention and pointed toward the door to the room where the strongest herbs were kept. The charms were gone, disintegrated. He nodded and they headed toward the door, preparing to blow the door down in hopes of finding the intruders.  
  
They looked at each other and nodded once, then looked at the door. It crashed open on its hinges. Marisol's husband leapt through the doorway with Marisol close behind. The room was empty.  
  
"Vampire," Her husband grunted. "A vampire was here."  
  
Marisol could feel the lingering aura quickly dissipating through the air. She looked around as if expecting the vampire to reappear. Her husband stuck around for a moment longer, then went back into the main room, his dagger still poised, ready to be flung at intruders.  
  
After taking quick inventory, Marisol noticed with distress that one of the phials was gone.  
  
Brennan? She called silently to her husband. Have you taken the bottle of the Valerian Root mixture? It's missing.  
  
No, and that's not the only thing missing, He replied grimly. Marisol could sense the hot anger in his mind, overriding the twinge of sadness at the thought of Kala, their daughter who had gone out to a friend's house and never returned. As midnight had set in, Marisol had grown anxious despite Brennan's certainty that Kala was just spending extra time at her friend's house to chat. Kala had not returned by the next morning, and even Brennan was getting uneasy; Kala had never been gone that long without checking in with them. Upon inquiry of her friend, they found out that their daughter had never made it to the house the previous night. They could find no trace of her; it was like she had dropped off the face of the Earth.  
  
What? She asked Brennan, realizing that he had said something else, but she had missed it.  
  
I said, that's not the only thing missing, Brennan repeated clearly. Where's Alex? 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17  
  
Alex suddenly felt a sharp jolt and she nearly stumbled, but Kieran's arms were wrapped about her. She slowly opened her eyes and stepped back from Kieran, realizing that she had been holding onto him with all her might, ready to protect him from her parents if she could. She looked around, amazed. They were back in Kala's room. She stared at Kieran, who looked equally in awe.  
  
"How'd you do that? I nearly drained your power when I broke the spells on the door," she babbled.  
  
Kieran shook his head. "I didn't do that; you did. Did you know you could do that?"  
  
Alex looked down at her hands in wonder then back at Kieran. "Me? How?"  
  
She noticed that Kieran looked exceptionally pale, despite the fact that he was a vampire.  
  
He smiled. "I guess now we know that part of my power is now yours."  
  
Alex noticed the black overcast in her mind and examined it in shocked curiosity. She now withheld vampiric power. Vampiric power was at her command. There was a void end to the power, where there seemed to be a connection leading off into the darkness of eternity. She mentally started to draw the bond in.  
  
Kieran flinched and massaged his temples. Alex looked at him in amazement. In her mind, she tied the link quickly into a knot. She watched in delight as Kieran dropped to the floor, pain etched in his features. He looked up at her questioningly.  
  
"An unbroken bondage," Alex whispered, her eyes gleaming with malevolent ecstasy. "You're connected to me."  
  
Kieran looked down momentarily, then looked up, his eyes lustrously glow-in-the-dark silver. "And you are connected to me."  
  
Pain barged through Alex's mind, her power seeming to be dragged from her with a spiny vengeance. After a few seconds it disappeared and she realized that she was lying on the ground, curled into a ball, clutching her head. She shuddered at the thought of the fleeting phantom of pain.  
  
Kieran stood over her, looking unusually tall and menacing. He bent down and offered her a hand. She eased to a sitting position, glaring at the outstretched hand. She got shakily to her feet, feeling once again lightheaded.  
  
"I change my mind," Kieran stated, looking condescendingly at her. "You wouldn't make a good hunter; you have no pain tolerance."  
Anger flared in her and she looked indignantly at him, opening her mouth to say something.  
  
Kieran grimaced, "Alright already."  
  
"What?" Alex spat.  
  
"You were insulting me. The old saying is correct; anger burns."  
  
Alex opened her mouth to retort with a rather unpleasant comeback, but Kieran held up a hand to stop her.  
  
"Just help Kala, will you?"  
  
Alex glowered at him once more before going to her sister's side and kneeling. She took the bottle from Kieran and opened it, shaking out 6 of the capsules. She dumped the rest of the pills onto her lap, then opened the capsules and shook the contents into the empty bottle. She held the bottle in both hands, squeezing her eyes shut in concentration. She opened her eyes a moment later, and rooted around in the small purse that she had grabbed from her room.  
  
"What are you doing?" Kieran asked.  
  
Alex withdrew a syringe and assembled it. "Turning the powdered Valerian Root mixture into liquid so that I can inject it into her. Just like Valium, really; both are sedatives."  
  
"Valium?" Kieran inquired, frowning.  
  
"Yeah, Valium." Alex chanced a glance at him and laughed at the clear perplexity written all over his handsome face. "Oh, that's right. Valium probably wasn't around when you were human, huh? So, when and where did you grow up?"  
  
"None of your business," he stated silkily. "I don't give that information out lightly."  
  
Alex stopped the bottle with her thumb and shook it before inserting the syringe and drawing the now-liquid mixture into the needle. Kieran watched in apprehension as Alex plunged the needle into her sister's upper arm and injected the liquid before stepping back hastily.  
  
Kieran started forward when he saw Kala's spine arch in what seemed like an unnatural angle before she drooped limply back to the floor, her arms splayed at her sides. Suddenly she surged into a sitting position, her eyes shooting open widely as she noisily gasped air into her burning lungs.  
  
Alex had her arms wrapped around Kieran's middle and was straining to keep him where he was. She saw tear streaks running down his cheeks as Kala sagged back to the ground, her eyes closed, and lay there. Once assured that Kala was in a deep sleep, Alex dropped her arms and watched as Kieran shot to Kala's side and drew her limp body into his arms, showering her with kisses and tears. She heard him muttering over and over, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," as he stroked her hair lovingly.  
  
Alex looked on with mixed jealousy and disgust.  
  
"Put her in the bed," Alex ordered Kieran, who apparently didn't hear her.  
  
When Kieran still paid her no heed after she had repeated herself louder, she yanked viciously on the link between their minds and shrewdly repeated herself again. This time Kieran took note of her words and gathered Kala gently in his arms as if she were very fragile and tucked her into her bed, still holding her hand tightly, staring at her with rapture in his fathomless emerald eyes.  
  
Alex stood on the other side of Kala's bed, looking down at her with a frown on her face, her arms crossed over her chest.  
  
"She's going to hate you."  
  
Kieran winced. "I know."  
  
"There's something I could do... but, no, I can't."  
  
"What?" Kieran pleaded eagerly, ready to do anything possible to prevent Kala from loathing him.  
  
"Modification of her memory. Simply delete the memory of you feeding from her." Alex wouldn't meet his eyes; instead she kept her gaze locked on her sister's peacefully sleeping face.  
  
"But...why? I thought you despised me." Kieran regarded her suspiciously. Though he had only known Alex for a short period of time, he had known others like her for years. Nothing would be given out of the pure goodness of her heart; everything came with a price.  
  
"Yeah, well..." Alex shrugged. "You love her, and if what she feels for you is even half of what you feel for her...then she's obviously very lucky, that someone cherishes her as much as you seem to. And I'd hate to get in the way of that, even if it is considered treason, and I could be disowned for it."  
  
Kieran noticed the tone of disappointment in her stony voice.  
  
He reached across the bed to pat her arm. "You're still very young. You'll find someone who loves you, don't worry." He paused before playfully adding, "From what I last knew, my brother is still single."  
  
She glared daggers at him and smacked his hand away. "I've got to get back before my parents have a complete cow."  
"You don't want to leave," he said quietly, hearing the tone of resignation in her speech.  
  
"No!" Alex retorted, once again glaring at him. "It's not that I don't want to leave here...it's just that I don't want to go back there. I'll be caught for certain, and I have no idea what I'll say. I don't know how to explain the fact that I left with a vampire in the middle of the night, and came back linked to you. They'll find you, you know that right? They can trace the bond between us, and when they get to you, they'll kill you and reclaim Kala. So that's it. I can't go back." She stared out the window defiantly.  
  
"Stay here."  
  
She whipped around to look at him. "What?"  
  
"Stay here. They can't trace you to me if they can't find you in the first place. If you stay, you'll be given the same respect and privileges that Kala has had. Pretty much free run of the place. Or if you don't like that, I can buy you an apartment wherever you want, get you a fake ID, and you can just skip a few years in your life and start out on your own. Or you could join some subdivision of SingleEarth. If you look in the right places, there are no ends to your choices."  
  
"You're kidding, right? There's no way that I could stay here. Think about it, smart one. I can't modify Kala's memory that much without making her forget you. When she wakes up, she'll still know that she was captured and brought here, enough to know that she was separated from her family a long time ago. If I just randomly turned up, don't you think she'd get a bit suspicious? I mean, call me crazy, but I doubt you've offered to let her return home for a visit, or let her know that she could invite family. I can take away memories, I can transmit memories from one person to another, but I can't create them. And as good as living on my own sounds, I'm apt to think that won't work out too well."  
  
"Quite the pessimist, aren't we, young Alex?"  
  
"Oh, I do try," she said with an air of smug sarcasm.  
  
"Well, you have to go somewhere. But while you're deciding, I suggest you rest, or at the very least find something to entertain yourself in this very room."  
  
"And why wouldn't I want to go venturing out of here?"  
  
Kieran gave an insolent laugh. "My dear, you couldn't possibly think that I, whom you called one-third of the most feared group of vampires, would settle for anything less that a manor house. You are currently standing in one of the very few rooms that are extremely well-protected against...unwanted visitors. At any point, there can be nearly 50 or more vampires, and I strongly doubt that many of them would be hesitant to make a midnight snack of you, whether you wanted it or not."  
  
A/N: sorry it took so long to update...went on vacation again! Funfunfun! (Lancaster, PA, aka: amish country. Heh heh heh...it was kinda funny to see all them people with funky hats..and the beards! omg...too hilarious for words! No offense meant...) anywho, yeah...u can review now! 


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18  
  
Alex paced around the perimeters of the room in which her sister lay, chewing her already worn and ragged nails. Kieran had been gone for over two hours, presumably feeding or sleeping, and still she could not rest. She'd mulled over her options countless times, and still she did not know what she was going to do. Her heart reminded her of how she had idolized her elder sister, how much she had missed Kala when she had disappeared. How wonderful it would be to take Kala home and simply pretend that the last 6 months had never happened, that Kala had never gone away, and that they were still one big, happy family.  
  
But that'd never happen, the sensible part of her brain scorned. Nothing will ever be all right again.  
  
She paused mid-step and looked over at her sister, still peacefully sleeping. Their parents had always compared all of their children, Kala and Alex especially. Tall, willowy, and graceful, Kala was the happy-go- lucky, carefree child, her head buried in a book when it wasn't up in the clouds daydreaming. Alex was psychologically the older sister, always looking after Kala, making sure she didn't get herself in too deep; she knew what she wanted and how to get it, and was stubborn enough not to let go of something once she sank her teeth into it. Alex was short, stocky, and pale where Kala was elegant, dark, and beautiful.  
  
Two parents could not have produced a more unlikely pair of offspring.  
  
Alex sat down at the black ebony desk that faced the window, staring out into the gray dawn of the coming morning. She tapped her fingers on the top in a constant rhythm, one foot jiggling in time to the beat her fingers were drumming out. As weary as she was physically, her mind would allow no sleep, no rest, and soon she was shaking with suppressed energy. Launching herself out of her chair, she started pacing around the room again. Her gaze skimmed over the room, as if looking for a way out, and landed on the door.  
  
Kieran had expressly forbidden her to exit the room, on the threat of becoming a meal for one of his guests.  
  
But now that she had the power to disappear and reappear somewhere else, she could easily get herself out of trouble in the off chance that she might even encounter any.  
  
Well, she thought as she strode toward the door, I always have been a sucker for breaking rules. 


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19  
  
The dream was too long. It slithered and slipped and gurgled deeply into midnight pools in which I saw my own face peering back at me. It pounded with screams that crashed and echoed despairingly through caverns and then drowned in soft, billowing blackness; it surged with the soft babble of unknown voices, whispering in haunting tones in an unrecognizable language.  
  
I emerged slowly, floating sluggishly upward from the great depths of my own mind. I was still pleasantly lost between the dream and the waking world when my door opened. I languidly turned my head toward the sound, forcing my heavy eyelids to open a slit.  
  
I watched with mild fascination as the blurry figure moved to my bedside and knelt next to me. A gentle hand stroked my brow lightly and against I was falling slowly yet surely back into the sleep from whence I came.  
  
Alex had been exploring the mansion for some time now, and still had not run into anyone. Had Kieran been lying? Were there really that many vampires here? She doubted that they'd all be sleeping, especially if there were really that large of a number. Alex knew that vampires sometimes kept odd hours, but what were the chances that every single one of them would be sleeping at that moment?  
  
She stopped in random places and opened doors, finding some of them to lead to stairs mounting to the next floor above or descending to the floor below, and others to exquisitely decorated rooms. She reluctantly admitted that whoever had done the designing of this place, or what she had seen so far, was really quite talented and had wonderful taste. The rooms were all painted in soft colors, varying from the palest of pinks to light blues to feathery grays. The thick, plush carpets were all done in deeper, richer shades of the walls, with the acceptance of rooms that sported large area rugs, or brightly colored braided rugs. The hallways that she had ventured through all had wood paneling along the top and bottom, the top half of the wall a mellow off-white and the bottom half such a highly polished mahogany that it looked more like large sheets of glass than the wood that it was. The floor was covered in long oriental carpets of rich reds, chestnuts, blacks, emeralds, and creams. Strategically placed artistic lamps provided a soft, oddly comforting glow throughout the elegantly decorated hallways.  
  
As she traveled from one empty room to the next, she marveled at the fact that she had seen no one, and could not sense anyone with her range.  
  
In one room on the second floor (she determined this by leaning out of a window) she found what appeared to be the laundry room/linen closet. There were two long rows of washing machines and dryers running down the center, and along three walls were shelves piled high with bath towels, hand towels, bed sheets, blankets, and any other type of bedclothes and bath supplies she could think of. Along the fourth wall there were rows and rows of little cubbies about one foot square that were neatly labeled with nametags. Most of the niches had neatly folded clothes in them. Looking down at the oversized shirt and boxers that she wore as pajamas, she decided that she couldn't go about dressed as she was, and she was sure that no one would mind if she borrowed a few articles of clothing.  
  
It took her a while, but she finally found an off-the-shoulder white peasant blouse and a tight, black lace-up vest to go over it and a black miniskirt that hung low on her hips. Together with a black belt that sported a large silver buckle, which she had found and fastened loosely about her hips so that it hung at an angle, and a pair of black, thigh-high stiletto boots, Alex felt more feminine than ever before. Examining her distorted image in a cracked and dusty mirror, she was pleased to realize that the outfit clung to her skin in a way that gave her the appearance of being more artfully curved than stocky.  
  
Being the youngest child (her mother had had 2 miscarriages and one stillborn child after Alex) Alex's parents seemed to be clinging to her childhood for as long as possible. Never before had she been allowed to wear anything even remotely as revealing and ostentatious as this; her parents would rather kill her barehanded than let her out of her bedroom dressed as she was. What was the point? Her mother had asked. Human girls showed off their bodies to attract attention from boys, and likely their future mates. Why did Alex need to do that when she was basically already spoken for? She would ultimately have no choice in her marriage proposal; as a witch, she was only permitted to marry a male within 6 years of her age in a corresponding line of witches and hunters, and a man that her parents would choose for her.  
  
Though she was permitted to put off her marriage for as long as she wished, each year the number of males to choose from would shrink. As it was unspoken law that each able-bodied female had to marry and produce at least one child, in order to uphold the remaining lines of witches and hunters, there were virtually no unmarried witches past the age of 25. Many girls chose to marry young, as early as 16 or 17, so that they still had plenty of childbearing years ahead of them.  
  
As Alex bundled her pajamas in a ball, she wondered what she should do with them. She couldn't very well carry them around with her; that would look ridiculous. Remembering her newfound power, she closed her eyes and called up a picture of her bedroom and concentrated on it. After a moment, she opened her eyes to find that she was still standing in the exact same place. After trying a few more times, she threw her clothes in an empty washing machine muttered disgustedly, "What a crappy ability. Can't even use it unless I'm riled up, apparently."  
  
She strolled out the door and strutted down the hallway in the direction that she had been going before she found the laundry room, swinging her hips with a new confidence.  
  
She turned a corner into a hallway that was basically the same, but the carpet ended, and was replaced by polished wooden floorboards. She was lost in thought, only barely aware of the sharp click of her footsteps, when she turned another corner and walked straight into someone.  
  
A/N: *gasp* who is it?! lol, he he he.... 


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20  
  
Without thinking, she shoved the person as hard as she could and said sharply, "Watch where you're going!"  
  
She watched in amazement as the boy dropped to one knee amid the scattered papers he had been carrying and murmured in a barely audible voice, "My deepest apologies, milady. It shall not happen again."  
  
He was looking not at her but at the ground, and his broad shoulders were hunched over and tensed, as if waiting for a strike to befall them.  
  
When she neither moved nor said anything, he slowly and cautiously looked up at her, revealing a handsome face creased with worry, and warm cinnamon eyes. He dropped his gaze once more when he saw that she was looking at him closely, hiding behind a curtain of soft-looking, mussed-up, reddish-brown curls.  
  
Frowning, Alex dropped to her knees and started gathering the papers that had been dropped. The boy, who appeared to be about her age, perhaps a year or so older, looked up at her questioningly.  
  
She handed him the papers in a neat pile and held out her hand. "I'm Alex."  
  
His gaze darted suspiciously between her eyes and her outstretched hand before he tentatively placed his hand in her own and shook it once before dropping it and standing up. Alex got to her feet and realized that he was not too much taller than she was, only an inch or two over her height, at most .  
  
"I am called Elijah." He paused, still not meeting her eyes. Alex hated people who never made eye contact, so she stepped closer to him and put her hand under his chin, which was so bowed it was practically touching his chest, and lifted his face up so that he was looking into her eyes.  
  
"Rule number one, Elijah, always make eye contact. Lack of doing so will announce the level of your very low self esteem."  
  
He smiled wryly, "I am afraid we were taught different sets of rules, milady."  
  
"And quit it with the whole 'milady' deal. As gentlemanly as I'm sure many would find it, I don't like it. Whoever taught you those rules obviously must've had a few screws loose, if you know what I mean."  
  
Elijah looked around nervously, then whispered fearfully, "Don't say such things, mi-" he caught himself at the last second. "Miss Alex. If you are overheard, there will be trouble. Surely a sound beating will follow."  
"What?"  
  
Elijah ignored her question and instead took a light hold of her arm and started to walk back the direction that he had come from, pulling her with him.  
  
"What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" Alex asked mainly out of curiosity.  
  
"Back to your room. You stayed the night, I presume?"  
  
"Yeah, part of it," she answered truthfully, wondering where he was going with this. "How do you know which room is mine?"  
  
Elijah turned to look at her without stopping. "Master Adham has...guests often, and they always stay in the same room, until he is done with them."  
  
Alex shifted her weight so she was leaning backward, causing Elijah to halt unexpectedly; she didn't like the sound of this. "What do you mean, 'until he's done with them'? But, wait a second, who is this 'Master Adham' dude? Doesn't exactly sound like a class A character if you ask me."  
  
The young man turned to regard her with an intense stare. "You are not Master Adham's guest?"  
  
"Uh, no," Alex replied slowly. "I guess you could call me Kieran's guest, if anything."  
  
Wide brown eyes looked at her with an alarmed expression. "Kieran? You're Master Kieran's guest?"  
  
"Yeah, do you have a problem with that?"  
  
"I-well, no, but...I've heard that Master Kieran has eyes only for a seductive, cunning witch of late..."  
  
"Hey," Alex protested as she jabbed him in the chest with her finger. "She has not seduced him; he's in love with her, got it, buddy?"  
  
"If he is truly in love with her, why would he do this to her?"  
  
"Ok, we're on two completely different pages here. What you are saying is not making logical sense. What do you think I am, because you obviously have more of an idea about it than I do."  
  
"You aren't a...vampire," Elijah stated slowly, as if reluctant to say the word.  
  
"Why not? What makes you think that?"  
His hand came up in a quick movement and Alex automatically stepped out of the way. Instead of striking her he brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Your eyes. They aren't blank. There are emotions that show. Vampires don't have emotions; at least, they don't show it as much. Their eyes are empty, vacant."  
  
"Yeah, go on..."  
  
"And you certainly don't live here; I would recognize you if you did. If you are not a vampire, then you must be human, and the only human females that come...visiting...are those that come to be paid for doing certain deeds."  
  
Alex's mouth dropped. Silence was slowly replaced by laughter. Elijah looked on in bewilderment as Alex laughed so hard that she had to lean against the wall for support.  
  
When she finally regained her composure, she said, "You mean you think that I'm a- a- a prostitute?" She started laughing all over again.  
  
"You are not a...lady of the night?" God, he had trouble saying that word, too.  
  
"No, I'm not. I thought this outfit was a bit racy, for me at least, but not that bad. Now that I know what you were talking about, it makes sense."  
  
"Do you forgive me for thinking that you were...not what you are?" A small, hopeful smile inched across his lips.  
  
"Sure. But tell me, vampires actually call for prostitutes also?"  
  
"Master Adham does." Elijah shrugged, again refusing to meet her eyes.  
  
"Really? I mean, I realize how despicable what I'm about to say is, but couldn't he just mess with some of the humans' minds around here? Wouldn't that be a whole hell of a lot easier?"  
  
"I did not say that he does not do that," Elijah said softly in a sad tone. "But he does not like to kill the humans around here. He likes a clean house, and it is they who keep it so."  
  
"So you're saying that he kills the women afterward?"  
  
"When he tires of them, yes; he drains their blood. I've often been the one to carry their bodies out."  
  
"Out where?" Alex was nervous; she didn't like to think of this sweet, curly-haired boy having to touch the dead bodies of courtesans.  
  
"To the woods, where they are burned." His voice was tonelessly flat, but Alex saw pain in his eyes.  
  
"This Adham sounds like a real dynamite individual." Alex said weakly. "Why don't you run away?"  
  
"It's no use, he will find me." Elijah looked so lost and forlorn that Alex wanted to take him in her arms and comfort him.  
  
Try to break the mood, Alex said, "So, what is there to do around this place? I might be staying here for a little while."  
  
Elijah frowned at her. "This is no vacation resort. If you have a choice, go away. This isn't the type of place that a human would want to hang around. There are too many risks."  
  
"I have the feeling that I'll be fine for the short while that I'm here, but something about this place..." Alex broke off with a shake of her head and a half-smile. "Nah, I'm just being ridiculous."  
  
"What about this house?"  
  
"Promise you won't laugh?" Elijah nodded slowly. "Well, something about this house is, I dunno, dark. Something's not normal."  
  
"Alex, there are vampires in this manor; of course there's something dark."  
  
"No, I mean more than that. Something's...wrong. I don't know how else to explain it, but there's more tension here. Something big is going to happen, something bad. I don't know what it is, but I don't want to be around when it does." Looking around, Alex realized exactly how ridiculous her statement was. The hallway was warmly lighted and comfortable, far from the type of house books had always depicted vampires living in.  
  
Suddenly wincing, Elijah's hand went to his head and he began massaging his temple. "You must return to your room."  
  
"Why? What's wrong? And anyway, I wasn't really given a room."  
  
Elijah took hold of her arm once more and began to lead her back the way from which they had come.  
  
"Where did you spend the night?"  
  
"Kala's room. She's the witch that you claim seduced your master."  
  
"I know-" his features contorted with pain and he kneaded his temple harder, finishing through clenched teeth, "-who she is."  
Alex looked at him questioningly. "What's up? Why are you doing that?"  
  
He shook his head as if there was no answer. His grip tightened on Alex's arm until it seemed he was cutting off the blood flow.  
  
"Hey, ease up, there, buddy. I'd like to retain the use of my arm."  
  
Elijah grunted in acknowledgement and loosened his grip, which only began tightening a moment later.  
  
"What's the deal with the whole Jekyll and Hyde thing? You were acting perfectly pleasant a moment ago," Alex stated, trying to pry her arm out of his grip, which was really starting to hurt.  
  
Almost instantly, Elijah dropped her arm and fell against the wall, his breathing heavy and ragged, as if he was in great pain.  
  
Alex was getting nervous. A second before he had been perfectly fine, and now he looked as if he were about to collapse. What was wrong with him?  
  
She touched his arm lightly, murmuring, "What's wrong? Is there anything I can do?"  
  
He turned slightly to face her. His face had gone remarkably pale; the light dusting of freckles that he had stood out like ink against his pasty skin. Beads of sweat had popped out all over his face, and his eyes were unfocused, the pupils dilated. He shook his head slightly.  
  
Alex laid her hand on his forehead gently; he was cold and clammy. He leaned into her comforting touch, his eyes closing slightly. Even when Alex wasn't intentionally using her gift, her magic was laced over her skin, providing a cool, soothing sensation to anything she touched.  
  
He jerked back, his eyes snapping open as she tried to slowly ease into his mind to figure out what was bothering him. He turned sharply and backed away from her, stumbling into the wall and sagging against it when another spasm of pain hit him.  
  
He opened his mouth and emitted a croaking sound instead of intelligible words. He swallowed and tried again.  
  
"Follow this hallway to the end. The door on your right should open up to flights of stairs; go up two floors and then turn left into the hallway. Take the first left that you come to, then the second right. Go down the next hallway on your right and her room should be the second to last on the left. Go, now."  
  
Without waiting for her reply, he started to walk unsteadily away, one arm trailing along the wall for support.  
  
"Wait!" Alex called after him. "Where are you going?"  
  
He didn't turn as he said, "I must go; I'm being called."  
  
"By whom?"  
  
"My master needs me. I must return to him." He broke into a clumsy run, disappearing from Alex's sight when he turned a corner.  
  
She stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Curiosity nagged at her; she wanted to know where he was going, but something warned her against it. For once following the sensible part of herself, she started back down the hallway toward Kala's room.  
  
A/N: I've gotten a buncha people saying that they want kala back...so, I apologize for not bringing her into this chapter, but she'll be in the next one, I promise 8^D this chapter is important b/c I needed to get alex to meet someone, b/c that'll come into play later...heh heh heh, a bit of foreshadowing for ya there...oh yeah, and sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, ya know, w/ school and everything it's been hard to find time to write and go on-line... 


End file.
